Space-based Missile Warning and Defense

The Emerging Threat

As global threats increase, so have our adversaries’ missile capabilities. A new generation of missiles has taken center stage: hypersonic glide vehicles. These weapons are not only faster and more maneuverable than traditional ballistic missiles but are incredibly difficult to track. Because of the faint heat signature and unpredictable flight trajectory of hypersonic missiles, the only way to identify and track them is with advanced satellite technology.

To stay ahead of this emerging threat, the U.S. military is building a robust constellation of missile warning and defense satellites in both geosynchronous orbit (GEO), highly elliptical orbit (HEO), medium-Earth orbit (MEO), and low-Earth orbit (LEO). Together, this multilayer architecture can quickly detect, accurately track and precisely target threats — most notably hypersonic vehicles that elude other capabilities.

Preemptive Innovation

L3Harris has an extensive 60-year history designing, building and testing infrared instruments in both GEO and LEO. With this expertise, L3Harris is adding vital tools to the U.S. military’s multilayered approach to eliminate danger wherever it appears.

To advance missile warning and defense, L3Harris’ solutions provide immediate and continuous global coverage of threats with highly sensitive instruments to find both dim and bright targets. Equipped with real-time onboard processing, our technology can follow hypersonics at different geometries and atmospheric conditions.

L3Harris’ mission-defining technology is playing a critical role on several missile warning and defense satellite programs, including

Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA)
Tracking Layer for the Space Development Agency (SDA) missile-tracking program
Wide Field of View (WFOV) for the U.S. Space Force’s missile warning satellite

By leveraging proven capabilities like infrared imaging, real-time detection algorithms and common interfaces and payloads, L3Harris is rapidly addressing their mission partners’ most critical challenges, quickly and affordably.

L3Harris Space-based Missile Warning and Defense Constellation

Benefits

End-to-end capabilities that support responsive space missions, including bus, payload, engineering design, mission planning, integration, testing, launch, operations and deliverable intelligence

01

Secure and scalable ground infrastructure provides command and control of responsive space constellations as well as data processing

02

Mission-defining sensor technology provides real-time missile detection with continuous precision infrared imaging

03

Production capabilities built upon years of space mission experience but with the commercial speed of a nontraditional vendor

04

Open-architecture design that supports rapid evolving performance in cost-constrained environments

With open design architectures, L3Harris can rapidly and affordably evolve capabilities to keep pace with evolving threats and missions.

Responsive, Rapid and Resilient Solutions

Threats to space-based missile warning and defense assets are growing by the day. In addition to rogue satellites and space debris, directed physical attacks and cyberattacks highlight the emerging risks the U.S. military must be prepared to combat.

L3Harris is redefining how to develop and deploy missile warning and defense satellites with responsive, resilient and affordable end-to-end solutions to quickly proliferate constellations and address threats.

By leveraging proven capabilities like infrared imaging, real-time detection algorithms and common interfaces and payloads, L3Harris is rapidly addressing their mission partners’ most critical challenges, quickly and affordably.

We have proven on-orbit technology:

Proven ability to launch reconfigurable, multimission software-defined payloads at scale
Record of cost-effectively meeting right-sized performance requirements and balance life-cycle costs across an entire smallsat constellation architecture
Years of experience delivering essential payloads in multiple orbits to U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)

Missile Warning and Defense Downloads

Space-Based Missile Warning and Defense Sell Sheet

Supporting Warfighters from Adversary Threats Infographic

Missile Warning and Defense News

The U.S. is in a hypersonic arms race against Russia and China. As our near-peer adversaries develop and deploy advanced missiles, the ability to detect these lethal weapons has become crucial for the safety of our country and our allies. L3Harris is answering the call to rapidly deliver mission-critical missile defense capabilities to our nation's warfighters by merging our forward-leaning digital engineering approach, deep mission knowledge and expertise in infrared imaging.

Editorial | 09. 12. 2022

Digital Engineering Helps L3Harris Rapidly Address Advanced Missile Threats

The U.S. is in a hypersonic arms race against Russia and China. As our near-peer adversaries develop and deploy advanced missiles, the ability to detect these lethal weapons has become crucial for the safety of our country and our allies. L3Harris is answering the call to rapidly deliver mission-critical missile defense capabilities to our nation's warfighters by merging our forward-leaning digital engineering approach, deep mission knowledge and expertise in infrared imaging.