The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin Space a $997.5 million contract extension for the continued development, testing, and on-orbit support of two geosynchronous missile-warning satellites, the Pentagon announced on June 21.
This extension continues Lockheed Martin’s previously awarded contract with the Space Force’s Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) program. The extension award brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $8.2 billion.
The U.S. Space Force, Space Systems Command, Space Sensing, Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, is the contracting activity.
The Next-Gen OPIR satellites play a crucial role in detecting and tracking ballistic missile launches by utilizing infrared sensors to swiftly identify the heat signatures of incoming missiles and transmitting vital early warning data securely to ground stations.
Space Force initially tagged Lockheed Martin to spearhead the development of these OPIR satellites in 2018, and this recent contract modification extends the company’s involvement.
The extension, effective until 2029, directs Lockheed Martin to conduct on-orbit developmental and operational testing, as well as calibration and tuning of the OPIR main mission payload.
The Next-Gen OPIR program was initially planned to be a constellation composed of five satellites: two in a highly elliptical orbit and the other three in a geosynchronous orbit (GEO). Recently, the Space Force adjusted the GEO satellite count from three to two within the constellation.
Lockheed Martin serves as the primary contractor for the satellites, while Northrop Grumman is tasked with developing the mission payloads, and BAE Systems is responsible for the infrared payloads.
