Space-Based Infrared System / SBIRS

Service And Conflict Use

1. Jun 6, 2019

   SBIRS GEO-4 reaches operational acceptance

   Air Force Space Command accepted GEO-4 for operations, with the satellite sending data to the Mission Control Station at Buckley.

   Sources: SBIRS GEO-4 Successfully Achieves Operational Acceptance

2. May 18, 2021

   First modernized SBIRS satellite enters Space Force control

   Lockheed Martin reported that the first modernized SBIRS missile-warning satellite was under U.S. Space Force control after launch and early on-orbit checkout.

   Sources: Lockheed Martin's First Modernized SBIRS Missile Warning Satellite Now Under U.S. Space Force Control

3. Aug 4, 2022

   SBIRS GEO-6 closes out the planned GEO series

   Lockheed Martin announced the sixth and final SBIRS missile-warning satellite had launched and was under Space Force control.

   Sources: Lockheed Martin's Sixth and Final SBIRS Missile Warning Satellite Successfully Launched, Now Under U.S. Space Force Control

Space-Based Infrared System / SBIRS Images

Related Weapon Systems

Support EquipmentNext Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared / Next Gen OPIRMissile-warning satellite familyNext Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next Gen OPIR) is the U.S. Space Force's next-generation missile-warning satellite family. Lockheed Martin is building the GEO component on an LM 2100 Combat bus, Northrop Grumman is building the polar satellites, and the program is intended to replace SBIRS with more resilient infrared sensing for ballistic, hypersonic, and counter-space threats.

Support EquipmentTransport and Tracking LayerProliferated low-Earth-orbit satellite architectureTransport and Tracking Layer is the Space Development Agency's proliferated low-Earth-orbit satellite architecture for resilient military data transport, missile warning, and missile tracking. Lockheed Martin is one of the major contractors across the family, with Tranche 1 Transport Layer satellites launching in 2025 and Tranche 2/3 Tracking Layer awards expanding the constellation.

Support EquipmentGlobal Positioning System III / GPS Block IIIMilitary navigation satellite familyGlobal Positioning System III / GPS Block III is the Lockheed Martin-built U.S. military navigation-satellite family that modernizes the GPS constellation with M-code, the L1C civil signal, improved accuracy, and stronger anti-jamming performance. It is the generation launched from 2018 onward before the GPS III Follow-On line, and it serves as a precision position, navigation, and timing space vehicle rather than a battlefield weapon in the catalog sense.

Support EquipmentIRST21 Sensor SystemPassive long-wave infrared search-and-track sensor systemIRST21 Sensor System is Lockheed Martin's passive long-wave infrared search-and-track package for modern fighter aircraft. It detects and tracks airborne threats without emitting radar, appears in the F/A-18E/F's centerline fuel tank installation, and is also packaged in the modular Legion Pod for other fighter and non-fighter aircraft.

Support EquipmentiSpaceSpace situational awareness and command-and-control software suiteLockheed Martin iSpace is a U.S. space situational-awareness software suite for managing assets in orbit. Lockheed Martin says the system fuses optical, radar, infrared, and radio sensor data from government, commercial, and scientific networks to track objects, process space events, and support command-and-control and battle-management decisions for defense, international, commercial, and civil users. The German Space Agency selected iSpace for space situational awareness in 2021.

Support EquipmentMobile User Objective System (MUOS)Narrowband military satellite communications systemMUOS is a U.S. narrowband military satellite communications system built by Lockheed Martin Space for mobile forces. Its five-satellite geosynchronous constellation uses a UHF WCDMA waveform to deliver beyond-line-of-sight voice, data, and mission traffic while preserving interoperability with legacy UHF terminals.

Sources