3.01.2025
L3Harris Technologies has secured a Space Development Agency contract worth up to $843 million to build 18 more infrared national-security missile-tracking satellites, which will undergo integration and testing at the defense giant's Palm Bay campus.
L3Harris' secretive $100 million satellite facility at Building 31 off Palm Bay Road has scaled up to full production — as major contracts are rolling out for President Donald Trump's future "Golden Dome" defense system against incoming ballistic and hypersonic missiles.
“L3Harris is proud to support SDA in its mission to deliver a next generation, layered defense architecture that can track threats in real time,” L3Harris CEO and Chair Christopher Kubasik said in a press release.
“Defeating the hypersonic missile threat begins in space, and our Tranche 3 satellites will advance our proven, on-orbit tracking and targeting capability needed to protect our homeland," Kubasik said.
The $843 million SDA contract includes ground software, operations and sustainment functions for the 18 satellites, which will be deployed in the military agency's future Tranche 3 constellation.
During a Building 31 media tour earlier this month, L3Harris displayed eight satellites under varying stages of assembly. These satellites' sensor-equipped payloads — which will operate in low-Earth orbit in the SDA's Tranche 1 Tracking Layer — were transported from an L3Harris facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Palm Bay, where workers install propulsion, solar-power wings and other components.
The eight satellites will be transported to California for future launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Looking ahead, L3Harris received a January 2024 contract worth up to $919 million to design and build 18 infrared space vehicles for the SDA's Tranche 2 missile-tracking constellation. The 94,000-square-foot Palm Bay facility will integrate those satellites during 2026, with launches planned in 2027.
Tranche 3 should launch during the 2029 fiscal year, an SDA press release said. The L3Harris $843 million contract is part of the future network of 72 missile-tracking satellites worth about $3.5 billion. The other participating companies:
- Lockheed Martin: up to $1.1 billion for 18 satellites.
- Rocket Lab USA: up to $805 million for 18 satellites.
- Northrop Grumman: up to $764 million for 18 satellites.
“The constellation will include a mix of missile warning and missile tracking, with half the constellation’s payloads supporting advanced missile defense missions to pace evolving threats," SDA Acting Director Gurpartap “GP” Sandhoo said in a press release.
"The addition of these satellites will achieve near-continuous global coverage for missile warning and tracking, along with payloads capable of generating fire control quality tracks for missile defense," Sandhoo said.
Quelle: Florida Today