Raytheon Intelligence and Space, a Raytheon Technologies business, completed a Critical Design Review of its competitive sensor payload design for the U.S. Space Force's Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared or Next-Gen OPIR, Block 0 GEO missile warning satellites, which are being designed and built by spacecraft prime contractor Lockheed Martin.

"Protecting the U.S. and our allies from the threat of adversaries' advanced missile technology begins in space," said Paul Meyer, vice president of Space and C2 for RI&S. "With this most recent milestone, we are on schedule with Lockheed Martin on this go-fast program."

RI&S is moving forward with unit risk-reduction activities, flight hardware manufacturing, test, assembly and payload delivery. Much of the testing is completed in a digital environment, allowing engineers to visualize and assess the full mission thread from design to launch to post-delivery support. This type of agile development can offer rapid and iterative design insights while modeling evolutionary payload upgrade capabilities to meet future threats and mission requirements.

"Our digital engineering approach includes mission-scenario simulations that model our full suite of capabilities to predict how they will work on orbit," said Meyer. "We're able to iterate in real time to validate system requirements."

Planned to provide more resilient missile warning, Next-Gen OPIR Block 0 was implemented by the Department of the Air Force as a "Go Fast" acquisition program. Lockheed Martin Space selected Raytheon Intelligence and Space as one of two teams to design a viable sensor payload for the program. The first geostationary-orbiting satellite is targeted for delivery 60 months from initial design.

Related Links
Raytheon Intelligence and Space
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com

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