Infrared Payloads and Onboard Processing for Tracking Satellites

Sierra Space and Leidos are collaborating to develop and deploy missile warning and tracking payloads for the Space Development Agency Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3 Tracking Layer. The initiative focuses on fielding 18 satellites designed to detect and track hypersonic and advanced missile threats from low Earth orbit using real-time spatial processing.

Operational Architecture and Technical Roles
Under the partnership agreement, Sierra Space acts as the primary satellite integrator, responsible for the bus architecture and overall space vehicle assembly. Leidos serves as the payload supplier, providing infrared sensing hardware, onboard digital signal processing units, and mission support systems.

The primary technical challenge addressed by this cooperation is the reduction of detection-to-track latency in low Earth orbit. Traditional missile defense architectures rely on raw data transmission to ground stations, which introduces bandwidth constraints and processing delays. By integrating high-resolution infrared sensors directly with onboard signal-processing electronics, the Leidos payload processes target data at the edge. The system filters background noise and calculates target vectors directly on the space vehicle, enabling immediate transmission of actionable tracking data to operational defense networks.

System Integration and Mission Deployment
The deployment phase covers 18 operational space vehicles within the expanded proliferated low Earth orbit tracking layer. Leidos provides ground support equipment, system sustainment, and operational expertise throughout the mission lifecycle. The hardware integration builds on technical architectures validated across previous Space Development Agency tranches.

The payload design relies on sensor heritage established during earlier orbital deployments:

The Tranche 3 satellite constellation integrates these flight-tested optical units into the updated Sierra Space platform. This operational configuration establishes persistent global coverage, maintaining continuous line-of-sight tracking for high-velocity maneuvering threats across theater operations and homeland defense applications.

Edited by Evgeny Churilov, Induportals Media - Adapted by AI.

www.leidos.com