(Washington, D.C.) The Missile Defense Agency is investing in a new kind of space sensor intended to track and ultimately stop hypersonic weapons traveling at more than 5 times the speed of sound, a modern weapon expected to greatly inform, if not change, paradigms for future warfare.
Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor
As part of its 2022 budget submission, the Missile Defense Agency has requested funds to deliver a “hypersonic and ballistic tracking space sensor,” intended to “provide fire control quality data to track dim ballistics threats and global maneuvering hypersonic threats,” Navy Vice Admiral Jon Hill, Director, Missile Defense Agency, told reporters according to a Pentagon transcript.
The new sensor program, which the MDA is developing with the U.S. Space Force and Space Development Agency will deploy its first two satellites in 2023, Hill added. The new technology will ultimately replace the existing Space Tracking and Surveillance System, or STSS, which is now in orbit.
Interestingly, the emerging program is consistent with a broad emphasis throughout the MDA budget request, which is the massive amount of money being devoted to research and development. Of the entire $8.9 billion 2022 budget request, $7.2 billion, or 80 percent, is slated for research and development.
Research and Development Missile Defense
This emphasis prioritizing R&D is entirely consistent with the Pentagon’s effort to confront the current challenges facing missile defense.
