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Northrop Grumman has secured a multiple award US$244 million contract from the United States Space Force to deliver advanced relay ground stations across the US and the UK in support of the Next‑Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next‑Gen OPIR) program.
Valued at up to US$244 million (AU$377.5 million) and awarded by the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific on behalf of Space Systems Command, the contract builds on Northrop Grumman’s Relay Ground Station‑Asia (RGS‑A) work initiated in 2022.
Under the IDIQ contract, Northrop Grumman and other industry partners will undertake the design, construction, integration and sustainment of these ground stations. Calvin Pennamon, director of Operational Exploitation Systems at Northrop Grumman, said, “Our advanced relay ground stations are designed to be scalable and upgradeable, prioritising high performance, reliability and mission flexibility for the Next‑Gen OPIR program.”
The Next‑Gen OPIR program is central to the United States Space Force’s (USSF) integrated missile warning, tracking and defence architecture. It is set to replace the ageing Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) which has provided geostationary and polar coverage since the mid‑1990s.
The new constellation will comprise five satellites – three in geosynchronous Earth orbit and two in highly elliptical polar orbits – each equipped with advanced infrared sensors designed to detect the heat signatures of ballistic and hypersonic missiles against the cold backdrop of space. Managed by the USSF’s Space Systems Command, Next‑Gen OPIR embraces rapid acquisitions under the “SMC 2.0” reforms, aiming to deliver persistent battlespace awareness and time‑critical missile warning for the United States and its allies
“They will enhance communications between legacy and future Space Based Infrared Systems, providing access to multiple constellations and enabling warfighters to maintain a decisive edge against adversary threats,” Pennamon added.
A critical enabler of Next‑Gen OPIR’s success is its ground segment, known as the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) system. FORGE adopts an agile, modular design to conduct command and control for both legacy SBIRS and Next‑Gen OPIR constellations, with plans for annual capability upgrades to meet evolving bandwidth and resiliency requirements.
Northrop Grumman will leverage its proven RGS‑A infrastructure – currently under development in Guam – to deploy scalable, upgradeable relay ground stations in the US and the UK, offering expanded coverage of critical missile warning and tracking satellites.
