Northrop Grumman’s TRKT3 will build on the Tracking Layer capabilities of Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 with targeted technology enhancements, expanded coverage and increased integration including precision fire-control sensing. (Photo Credit: Northrop Grumman)
The Tranche 3 tracking layer will comprise 72 satellites to provide near-continuous global coverage, with half featuring payloads able to create fire-control data.
Located in the Mission Control Station at Buckley Space Force Base, Colorado, the Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Battlespace Awareness Center (OBAC) provides near-real-time OPIR data exploitation products that deliver situational awareness to Space Delta 4 operators and other users. (Space Force photo)
Space Systems Command expects to continue delivering new capabilities for the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) on a yearly basis, according to the program's executive officer.
“Moving forward, we see there are a lot of niche missions where the fine line between what is the tracking mission and what becomes the custody mission…
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 85 commercial and government spacecraft and 3 Starlink satellites launches from Cape Canaveral on June 30, 2021. (U.S. Space Force photo by Airman 1st Class Dakota Raub)
The plan highlights the DOD’s embrace of proliferated low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite architectures, which officials view as more resilient than the larger, more expensive spacecraft that currently…
