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SBIRS HEO - High Earth Orbit

SBIRS HEO sensor is a scanning sensor similar to the GEO scanner with sensor pointing performed by slewing the full telescope on a gimbal. The GEO scanning sensor will provide a shorter revisit time than that of DSP over its full field of view, while the staring sensor will be used for step-stare or dedicated stare operations over smaller areas. SBIRS GEO and HEO sensor raw unprocessed data will be down-linked to the ground, so that the same radiometric scene observed in space will be available on the ground. The first SBIRS HEO payload was delivered in August 2004 for integration and the second HEO payload was delivered in September 2005. The sensor sensitivity exceeded the specification for both payloads.

The HEO 1 sensor was the first major deliverable for Increment 2 and the first near-term deliverable to measure the program's progress. As a part of the restructuring, the delivery of this sensor to the host satellite was delayed from its original date in February 2002 to February 2003. At that time, program officials were confident of meeting the new delivery date. However, significant deficiencies were revealed during systems tests in November 2002 making it apparent that the February 2003 date would not be met, and delivery was postponed another 2 months.

In May 2003, the Program Director reported that the delays were due to a series of design deficiencies. For example, the design to control the sensor's electromagnetic interference (EMI) was inadequate. Specifically, Lockheed Martin identified 148 offending EMI frequencies that exceeded the tolerances established by the host satellite. These excessive frequencies could interfere with the operations of the host satellite and jeopardize its mission. Thirty-nine design modifications to the HEO sensor were made, which eliminated 80 percent of these noise conditions. However, the final EMI test, completed in early July 2003, identified seven remaining EMI frequencies that were not within tolerance -- two of which appeared to be attributable to the HEO sensor. Since the problems cannot be resolved and there is no expected impact on performance, the Program Director requested waivers for the offending frequencies to allow the sensor to be integrated onto the host satellite. According to a program official, the waivers have been approved and the first HEO sensor is now expected to be delivered on December 6, 2003, provided no additional testing is needed.

The HEO 1 design problems were attributable to weaknesses in earlier program management processes. Under these processes, the program tried to achieve efficiencies by cutting back on detailed design analyses and component testing. The exact costs associated with these weaknesses are unclear. GAO's independent estimate -- using data from the contractor's June 2003 cost performance report -- indicatedin 2004 that the development of HEO 1 will overrun the contract amount at completion by about $25 million to $54 million, and that additional costs associated with HEO 2 rework would be between $20 million and $80 million. The Program Office is currently assessing estimates of total cost impact.

On November 18, 2003 the Department of Defense released details on major defense acquisition program cost and schedule changes since the June 2003 reporting period. The Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) submitted reported schedule slips of nine months (from May 2003 to February 2004) for the Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) Sensor 1 Delivery and 10 months (from November 2004 to September 2005) for the HEO Message Certification. HEO Sensor 1 Delivery has slipped due to a series of design deficiencies, technical issues identified during final performance testing, and problems meeting the Electromagnetic Interference specification. HEO Message Certification delays are due to the late delivery of the HEO 1 sensor payload and launch delays. No cost changes were reported.

Although the Air Force acted to reduce risks in the SBIRS program and has had some successes, the program still faced risk of not delivering promised capabilities within its revised goals. A December 2005 Acquisition Decision Memorandum (ADM) directed that maintaining schedule, even at the sacrifice of performance, should be the key to program management. The Restructured Acquisition Baseline included up to 3 GEO satellites and 2 highly elliptical orbit (HEO) sensors on classified hosts. To reduce risk, the SBIRS program cut back on quantity and capability in the face of escalating costs. It deferred capabilities, such as mobile data processors for the Air Force and the Army and a fully compliant backup mission control facility, and it pushed off a decision to procure the third and fourth satellites. Milestone Decision Authority will decide whether to procure GEO 3 based on the performance of GEO 1. Worldwide system requirements can not be met with 3 GEO satellites -- a constellation of 4 satellites is needed -- and so a plan for follow-on missile warning satellites is needed.

However, about 11 months after the most recent SBIRS program's restructuring, a November 2006 assessment report by the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) showed that some efforts within the program were experiencing significant cost increases and schedule overruns and that the outlook is worsening.

In November 2006, the Air Force announced the successful on-orbit check-out of HEO-1. The HEO payload detects ballistic missile launches from northern polar regions as it operates in a highly inclined elliptical orbit. The first of a new generation of SBIRS sensors, this payload has improved sensitivity to detect dim theater missiles and can be tasked to scan off pole areas of military interest.

Mission NROL-28 is believed to be a signals intelligence satellite bearing an attached Space-Based Infrared System Highly Elliptical Orbit payload for missile defense. This would be the second SBIRS HEO payload; the first was lofted June 27, 2006 for the NRO as part of the NROL-22 mission that inaugurated West Coast operations for Delta IV.

Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared

Space Based Infrared Systems (SBIRS) provides initial warning of a ballistic missile attack on the U.S., its deployed forces, or its allies. SBIRS also supports missile defense, technical intelligence, and battlespace awareness missions. The architecture consists of satellites in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) and Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO), ground segment, relay ground stations, and a mobile ground system. Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) is the successor to SBIRS. Objectives of Next-Gen OPIR include: field resilient capability for operations “through” contested environment, address emerging adversary advances in rocket propulsion technology, deliver strategically-survivable missile warning layer starting in FY23, and complete a modernized ground system that includes Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE). Space segments will now be acquired utilizing a rapid block approach to deliver strategically survivable missile warning beginning in FY23. In December 2017, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) validated an initial set of requirements for development of a resilient architecture while the Capability Development Document (CDD) is under development. Next-Gen OPIR Block-0 will fulfill the interim JROC requirements set. Next-Gen OPIR Block-I will deliver full CDD-based capabilities and architecture. The Government is also looking to grow Space Modernization Initiatives (SMI) Demonstrations with a new on-orbit prototype to burn down Block-I risk. The Air Force announced 04 May 2018 its intention to award two sole-source contracts for the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared program. In order to maintain space superiority over its adversaries, the Air Force is implementing rapid procurement authorities and is targeting the first Next-Gen OPIR launch in 2023. This establishes an aggressive goal of cutting four years off the current procurement process and supports the service's commitment to field new capabilities "at the speed of relevance". "As we develop these new systems, speed matters," said Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson. "The next generation missile warning satellite will be a pace-setter."

Next-Gen OPIR will succeed the current Space Based Infrared System by providing improved missile warning capabilities that are more survivable against emerging threats. The first contract will be sole-sourced to Lockheed Martin Space to define requirements, create the initial design and identify and procure flight hardware for a satellite to operate in geosynchronous orbit. The second contract will be sole-sourced to Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems to define polar system requirements.

"The next generation missile warning will be an important pace-setter for learning to speed up traditional acquisitions. This is more than just building a prototype or a low-cost system," said Dr. Will Roper, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. "This is an important system for the nation, and to 'go for the gold' by targeting five years instead of nine years allows us to pick up the pace to defend the nation."

The Air Force is the lead agency for procuring Next-Gen OPIR satellites. The Space and Missile Systems Center's Remote Sensing Systems Directorate at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California is the acquisition program office. Today, the Air Force operates 77 satellites vital to national security that provide communications, command and control, missile warning, nuclear detonation detection, weather and GPS for the world.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Sunnyvale, California, was awarded a $2,935,545,188 not-to-exceed undefinitized contract for three Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared Geosynchronous Earth Orbit Space Vehicles, the Defense Department said in a release on 14 August 2018. The contract encompasses requirements analysis, design, development and early manufacturing. Work on the three new infrared satellites will be performed in Sunnyvale in California over the next three years and is expected to be completed by April 30, 2021, the release added.

A few days previously, the Pentagon unveiled a report on establishing a Space Command as a separate branch of the US armed forces that the White House said would be in place by 2020. According to the report, command capability development efforts will focus on global surveillance for missile targeting and other priorities. The report also identified China and Russia as America’s primary adversaries in space. Congressmen Mike Rogers and Jim Cooper, high-ranking members of a House subcommittee on strategic forces, said the Pentagon’s new report will be helpful in speeding up acquisitions of more advanced systems to boost US capabilities in space.

The Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) Remote Sensing Systems Directorate (SMC/RS) intends to solicit proposals through the use of a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to identify innovative concepts and designs for a Next-Gen Overhead Persistant Infrared (OPIR) Block-I payload and a derivative prototype payload. In developing Next Gen Block-0, the government will prioritize schedule, driving the space vehicle design to incorporate high technology readiness components in order to minimize the program's schedule risk. In parallel, SMC/RS will begin exploring payload concepts for the follow-on system, Next-Gen OPIR Block-I. The initial launch capability (ILC) goal for Block-I is 2030. The Government seeks to identify what performance and resiliency parameters are achievable with component technologies currently under development that may not be incorporated into the Block-0 design due to current technical maturity levels and development schedules. Offerors will be asked to develop a set of feasible Block-I system requirements based on technology readiness assumptions, which will provide feedback to the Capabilities Development Document (CDD) development process. Based on these requirements, offerors shall develop achievable Next Generation Block-I payload concepts, along with an early prototype version of the proposed concept. Prototype payload concepts shall incorporate advanced component technologies as well as threat mitigation components and techniques to reduce Block-I payload development time, assembly and integration risk, mature component technology/ manufacturing readiness levels (TRL/MRL), and inform future Missile Warning and Missile Defense (MW/MD) architecture and Concept of Operations (CONOPs). The results of this announcement shall inform the scalability of the prototype concept to enable the transition of capabilities, technology and CONOPS to the Next Generation OPIR Block-I Program of Record (PoR). Focus Area I: Payload Technologies will identify critical technologies ready for insertion into a prototype payload design that will enable an evolution in capability from Next Generation OPIR Block-0 (reference System Requirements Document, Attachment A). The prototype payload design will be demonstrated on-orbit with an ILC range of 2025-2027. Define assumptions (e.g., TRL/MRL) for payload component development schedules. If TRL/MRL of proposed components is not at level 6, define a maturation plan to reach level 6. Technologies of interest include, but are not limited to, Focal Plane Arrays (FPAs), onboard processing, processing algorithms for advanced performance and threat resiliency, multi-spectral technology and processing algorithms, Filters, Limiters, Coatings, auxiliary payloads (e.g. threat warning sensors, laser crosslinks), and secure communication links. Focus Area 2: Optical Resiliency Capability - the government is seeking innovative resiliency approaches to mitigate optical threats. Threat mitigation techniques may include passive (e.g. limiters, coating, filters, etc.) or active (e.g. threat warning sensors). Reference Target and Reference Threat details are provided in the draft Next Gen Blk-0 GEO TRD (Attachment A), the Gov’t Summary of the Directed Energy Threat Assessment and the Project West Wing Advanced Target Summary (Attachment C); the classified versions will be provided, upon request and after clearance verification. Focus Area 3: Payload, Spacecraft and Ground System Integration - the government is interested in minimizing integration risk for the Next Generation Block-I program. This includes payload subsystem integration and test, integration of the payload on to a candidate space vehicle, and integration of the space vehicle into the ground system architecture. In particular, identify design elements which enable low-risk integration. For ground integration, define ground system interfaces to integrate into the Future OPIR Resilient Ground Enterprise (FORGE)/Enterprise Ground System (EGS) given the provided requirements as a baseline The integrated prototype SV (Prototype Payload and bus) shall have an ILC within the range of 2025-2027. An ILC date shall be proposed by the contractor based on achievable performance and resiliency attributes: first, identify performance, optical resiliency attributes, and space defense resiliency capabilities that may be achieved for an ILC of 2025; then, identify additional capabilities that may be achieved with an ILC 2027 based on later component technology availability and technical maturation. The acceptance rating will be based on the offeror’s Past Performance in design and/or build of OPIR and/or space-based sensors in the infrared spectrum contributing to the OPIR mission area for the United States government. If the offeror does not have relevant or recent past performance information prescribed above, the offeror must include information detailing a teaming arrangement and the roles/responsibilities of a partner organization with a high likelihood of meeting this requirement. https://www.vdl.afrl.af.mil/index.php?r=public%2Fprograms">Virtual Distributed Laboratory (VDL)

Study of Emerging Exploitation Developments (SEED)

The Layered Sensor Exploitation Division (RYA), Sensors Directorate (RY), Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), conducts research and development to provide efficient sensing exploitation for Air Force air, space, and C2 systems. A growing number of air, space, and ground sensors, each with advanced capabilities (range, sensitivity, resolution, features, etc.), has left the USAF and sister services with a significant technological challenge in maximizing the information gained from those sensors. This program will address challenges that face the sensor exploitation community and maximize various sensor information while advancing the SotA of sensor exploitation technologies. The goal of this program is to reach out to several different groups of researchers with all different backgrounds, experience and expertise to work very innovative, high risk, fundamental research projects which address some particular sensing/exploitation challenge. This research covers all sensor modalities including but not limited to Radar (passive, distributed apertures, and fully-adaptive radar for closed-loop operation, synthetic aperture radar), WAMI (Wide Area Motion Imagery), FMV (Full Motion Video), EO (Electro-Optic), IR (InfraRed), OPIR (Overhead Persistent InfraRed), HSI (Hyperspectral), MSI (Multispectral), GMTI (Ground Moving Target Indication), SIGINT, SAL (synthetic aperture laser), LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), LADAR (Laser Radar) and vibrometry for ground, air and space applications. The total program value is $24,000,000 with multiple awards ranging from $250,000 to $5,000,000. The Air Force anticipates awarding multiple awards for this announcement. However, the Air Force reserves the right to award zero, one, or more contracts for all, some or none of the solicited effort based on the offeror’s ability to perform desired work and funding fluctuations. The FIRST STEP requests a white paper and a rough order of magnitude (ROM) cost. The white paper shall include a discussion of the nature and scope of the research and the offeror’s proposed technical approach. The Government will evaluate the white papers in accordance with the FIRST STEP evaluation criteria, set forth in Section V. below. Based on this evaluation, the Government will determine which of them have the potential to best meet the Air Force’s needs. Offerors will be notified of the disposition of their white paper. The SECOND STEP consists of offerors submitting a technical and cost proposal within 30 working days of the proposal request.