Article Posted on : - Feb 17, 2011

GEO-1 satellite

SUNNYVALE (BNS): Final installations on the first geosynchronous (GEO-1) satellite have been successfully completed by Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS).

The company is preparing for the spacecraft’s final factory confidence test before delivering it to the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, for a spring 2011 launch aboard an Atlas V launch vehicle.

SBIRS GEO-1 will provide significantly improved missile warning capabilities and support to US with its highly sophisticated scanning and staring sensors. It will also provide support in critical missions including missile defence, technical intelligence and battlespace awareness.

“SBIRS GEO-1 will usher in a new era of critical missile warning capabilities vital to our national security. As we progress toward launch, the entire government/industry team is laser focused on delivering mission success for our war-fighters,” Brig. Gen. (sel) Roger Teague, the director of the US Air Force’s Infrared Space Systems Directorate, said.

As the SBIRS GEO-1 spacecraft prepares for shipment, the spacecraft’s flight software, designed to provide highly reliable command and control operations, will complete its final qualification testing and the SBIRS ground segment team will conduct final readiness exercises in preparation to support GEO-1 launch and operations.

The SBIRS team is led by the Infrared Space Systems Directorate at the US Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. Lockheed Martin is the SBIRS prime contractor, with Northrop Grumman, as the payload integrator.