SMC Awards Satellite Rapid Prototyping Contract to Northrop Grumman
LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (SMC PR) —The Space and Missile Systems Center awarded an Evolved Strategic SATCOM Space Rapid Prototyping contract to Northrop Grumman on Sept. 16.
The first in a series, SMC will award up to three separate contracts for this work to drive a competitive, rapid prototyping effort and mitigate the risk inherent in these early prototyping and demonstration activities. Subsequent contract awards are expected in the coming weeks.
Under this 5-year space segment rapid prototyping phase, each contractor will develop ground prototypes to demonstrate the most essential ESS payload elements to reduce risk for development and production of the ESS system.
The ESS program will fulfill the Department of Defense capability need for space-based protected strategic military satellite communications. The ESS program will ensure continued capacity, coverage, and protection for worldwide and Arctic DoD strategic, secure, anti-jam, survivable communications supporting ground, sea, and air assets.
ESS will augment, and eventually replace, the Advanced Extremely High Frequency system in support of strategic missions. SMC’s Space Development Corps, led by Col. Tim Sejba, manages the ESS program.
2 responses to “SMC Awards Satellite Rapid Prototyping Contract to Northrop Grumman”
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http://www.spaceref.com/new…
A new contract to come from DOD
I hope this is a boost phase interceptor not a mid course as we have now. Kim would just launch in a different direction, since the Earth is a ball. Hit the USA from the N,E, or S instead of launching over the interceptors so his ICBM can be shot down. Assuming he has such an ICBM. They had better tell DOD of this or they might get charged with fraud someday.
Trump says that he got Kim to stop testing ICBM. I don’t think so. Kim believes that DOD has an Aegis missile ship or my idea of fighter planes would shoot down his rocket as soon as it is launched. If DOD is not doing this then we have no protection at all.
This contract is about comsats, not ASATs. And I must say that only DoD and OldSpace dinosaurs like NorGrum would regard a five-year contract period for deliverables as “rapid prototyping.” SMC has shown at least a bit of hustle on a few things lately. This program, unfortunately, isn’t one of them.