Latest SBIRS missile warning satellite ready for 2022 launch
The SBIRS GEO missile warning satellite is hardened against cyber threats. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
Lockheed Martin’s SBIRS GEO-6 missile warning satellite for the US Space Force was completed in September 2021.
Lockheed Martin’s sixth Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (SBIRS GEO-6) missile warning satellite has been completed and is now in storage awaiting its expected launch in 2022.
SBIRS GEO-6 is the second military space satellite built using Lockheed Martin’s modernised LM2100 Combat Bus, an enhanced space vehicle that provides resiliency and cyber-hardening against growing threats, as well as improved spacecraft power, propulsion and electronics.
Once launched, SBIRS GEO-6 will join the space force’s constellation of missile warning satellites, equipped with scanning and staring IR surveillance sensors that collect data allowing the US military to detect missile launches, support ballistic missile defence, expand technical intelligence gathering and bolster situational awareness on the battlefield.
The satellite also has a flexible design that reduces the cost of incorporating future modernised sensor suites.
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