Missile Defense

The Space Development Agency aims to release a formal request for proposals for its first tranche of transport communication satellites -- a capability the Pentagon expects will serve as the backbone and "main unifying thrust" of its joint all-domain command-and-control efforts, according to SDA director Derek Tournear.

The Pentagon is asking Congress for relief from a statutory requirement that the nation's missile defeat policy and strategy be modified by appointing one or more acquisition executives to oversee homeland cruise missile defense and left-of-launch capabilities.

Raytheon says a new $2.1 billion Standard Missile-3 Block IB production contract drove the cost for each ballistic missile guided interceptor to its lowest level yet.

The Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon, one of two Air Force programs intended to create a prototype that can travel faster than Mach 5 to boost the military’s strategic assets for near-peer competition, has officially been canceled.

The Air Force is nearly finished with a key report that will recommend a plan for establishing an alternative Space Force acquisition system that draws successful practices from organizations like the National Reconnaissance Office and the Rapid Capabilities Office to improve the way space capabilities are developed and procured.

The Space and Missile Systems Center on Friday revealed it has directed Raytheon, the prime contractor for the GPS Operational Control Segment, to replace the system's computer hardware -- a move that will add another 10 months to the program's schedule and cost the government an additional $378 million.

The Justice Department said Thursday that United Technologies and Raytheon must divest Raytheon's military airborne radios business, UTC's military global positioning systems and UTC's large space-based optical systems businesses to move forward with the companies' planned merger.

The director of the Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center's launch enterprise said today the service has characterized the Launch Services Procurement source selection as "mission essential," and hasn't faced any significant disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The planned launch of the Next Generation Interceptor competition was tripped up last week when plans for a review by the Missile Defense Executive Board -- whose approval is needed to release a request for proposals -- were postponed as Pentagon leaders grappled with responding to the growing COVID-19 pandemic, sources said.