The U.S. Space Force has postponed the launch of its first Next-Gen Overhead Continuous Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) spacecraft, despite expectations that the satellite delivery would be on time, at least postpone until next spring This delay was due to high demand for launch services and some past development challenges.
Details of Delay and GAO Report
The satellite is one of two Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft designed to provide early missile warning capabilities from geosynchronous Earth orbit as part of the Next-Gen OPIR GEO program. The first satellite is now expected to be launched at least 2025 due to a “crowded XNUMX launch window,” according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Until March 2026 will remain on the ground.
The GAO has long warned that the program’s schedule is likely too ambitious because of the technology requirements for the mission payload, and the agency has predicted that its launch will likely be delayed by at least a year. Those estimates could prove correct, but perhaps for more nuanced reasons.
RTX, the program's freight supplier, has extended its delivery by 13 months to August 2024 with development challenges While that slowdown has eaten into much of the program’s margin, the satellite has made good progress on its test milestones since then. The service now expects the spacecraft to be delivered by September, meaning it could fly this year if there was room in the launch manifest.
Despite these successes, and because of insufficient scheduling margin, the program risks further delays if any issues arise during final integration, the GAO said in a report released today. “The program has no buffer in the schedule for the first launch, and any delays in payload and spacecraft integration would likely lead to launch delays and program cost increases,” the watchdog said.
Scope and Cost of the Next-Gen OPIR Program
Next-Gen OPIR is part of a larger multi-orbit strategy to provide missile warning and tracking capabilities from space. Along with the two GEO satellites, the Space Force will It has contracted with Northrop Grumman to build two polar-orbiting spacecraft as part of Next-Gen-OPIR.
These four satellites will eventually replace the current Space Based Infrared System. Two GEO spacecraft To 9,5 billion dollars It is expected to cost 100,000 TL and the total cost of polar satellites is 5,9 billion dollars expected to happen.
Separately, Space Development Agency, is leading an effort to develop a low-Earth orbit missile-tracking constellation of hundreds of small satellites. And the Space Systems Command, the primary acquisition arm of the Space Force, medium Earth orbit leads the constellation.
The GAO report, evaluated the progress of the two Next-Gen OPIR Polar spacecraft and found that the program is on track for delivery and launch in 2028 and meeting its schedule for various program reviews. In the report, It is noted that the polar satellites integrate a modified version of the same payload as the GEO spacecraft, which could pose a schedule risk once the program reaches the integration phase. In the report, The program approved a cybersecurity strategy last year and plans to conduct a series of tests this year and a full systems assessment in 2027, it said.
