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The prime has been selected to support a satellite program aimed at bolstering missile defence capability.
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L3Harris Technologies has been awarded a contract worth up to $700 million (AU$1 billion) to build the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tranche 1 Tracking Layer satellite program, designed to detect, identify, and track advanced missile threats.
The company has been tasked with building a 14-vehicle satellite constellation, which includes optical communications terminals, infrared mission payloads, Ka-band communications payloads and multiple pointing modes.
The contract also includes the provision of ground, operations and sustainment support.
“Investing in resilient space assets and acting as a trusted disruptor in this market are core to our long-term strategy,” Christopher E. Kubasik, chair and chief executive officer of L3Harris Technologies, said.
“Our customers have been clear; missile defence technology and space domain awareness architecture must be diversified, and our teams are positioned to deliver those cutting-edge solutions.”
According to SDA director Derek Tournear, the Tranche 1 Tracking Layer program progressed from solicitation to award in approximately 120 days, demonstrating the SDA’s ability to acquire capabilities “at speed”.
“We look forward to collaborating with our industry partners to quickly deliver missile warning/missile tracking capabilities as part of the Department of Defense hybrid architecture that will provide critical and timely information to the joint warfighter in the very near future,” Tournear said.
L3Harris has developed four prototype satellites under the SDA’s Tracking Layer Tranche 0 award in 2020, produced under the $193 million firm fixed-price contract.
The four satellites are scheduled to launch in 2023.
“L3Harris is successfully executing SDA’s foundational Tracking Layer Tranche 0 program, which set their strategic way forward for rapidly deploying relevant mission capabilities to our nation’s warfighters,” Kelle Wendling, president, space systems, L3Harris, said.
“This Tranche 1 win demonstrates our ability to nimbly scale from initial demonstration to proliferation with enhanced mission capability, resilience, global coverage, and speed to deployment as threats continue to evolve.”
[Related: Northrop Grumman tapped to develop Asia-Pacific missile detection capability]
