The ground station developed by Northrop Grumman for missile warning satellites has passed a preliminary review of the project, the company announced on June 1. Known as Relay Ground Station-Asia (RGS-A), the terminal was funded by the US Naval Information Center Pacific (NIWC) under a five-year $99.6 million contract. Northrop Grumman is developing a ground station in Boulder, Colorado, where the company opened a 23,680-square-foot facility last year.

RGS-A will act as a relay station to transmit signals between various satellite networks that detect missile launches. This will allow, for example, Navy ballistic missile ships to receive early warnings from existing infrared sensor satellites and next-generation systems that are not yet in orbit.

The ground station will be deployed in Guam

Aaron Dunn, vice president of strategic forces programs at Northrop Grumman, said in a statement that completing the validation of the project is “the next step in delivering much-needed new capabilities to the Pacific region.”

NIWC Pacific has commissioned the ground station to enable users to receive data from existing Spaceborne Infrared System (SBIRS) satellites and the next generation ground-based infrared array that will feature a new ground system known as FORGE (Future Operationally Resilient Ground). Evolution).

“One of the cornerstones of the Forge architecture is the development of relay ground stations that can support existing and new satellite constellations with the ability to handle changes in bandwidth and availability,” Dunn said. According to Northrop Grumman, RGS-A will have six antennas and will be deployed in Guam in late 2025. Antennas will be remotely controlled and operated from the United States. Source