Raytheon received $605 million to develop hypersonic missile tracking system from Earth orbit

The U.S. Space Forces will receive a missile tracking system in the foreseeable future, which will be located in medium Earth orbit. Raytheon Intelligence & Space is engaged in the development.

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The U.S. defense contractor received $605 million to build prototype spacecraft that will be equipped with a missile tracking system. The contract also calls for real-time mission data processing components to support a ground-based system that receives and processes data from satellites.

The new system will enable the U.S. Space Forces to detect and track highly accurate hypersonic weapons of the enemy. Roger Cole, a spokesman for Raytheon Intelligence & Space, said.

The payload will be integrated into the LM400 platform, which was developed by Lockheed Martin and introduced in 2021. The LM400 is focused just on accommodating military payloads.

A so-called "critical system design review" is scheduled for 2023. Within three years the satellite should be ready for launch. The work will take place at Raytheon and Lockheed Martin facilities in California and Colorado, respectively.

Source: Raytheon Intelligence & Space