Millennium Space Systems Missile Track Custody PDR complete in just four months

July 12, 2023

Millennium Space Systems completed the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command's Missile Track Custody Program Design Review in just four months, ensuring the program is on schedule for Critical Design Review in the fourth quarter.

SSC's MTC Program underscores Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration Frank Calvelli's move toward smaller, proliferated, and resilient systems across multiple mission areas.

"For example, we are pivoting from the legacy missile warning architecture to a resilient missile warning architecture that adds capability to actually track missile threats," Calvelli said, and referred to MTC as an "outstanding effort building small sats in medium Earth orbit" during his Apr. 26 testimony with the House Armed Services Committee strategic forces subcommittee.

"We're clearly demonstrating we can design, build and test systems in shorter timeframes on schedule," said Jason Kim, chief executive officer, Millennium Space Systems. "In the PDR, our team demonstrated sound technological understanding of mission needs and requirements, including the space and ground segments and how launch plays into those."

The company's ability to reduce risk and move fast is enabled by its flight-proven ALTAIR spacecraft – developed and invested in since 2015 – and by design for manufacturability and test processes, vertical integration of mature in-house components and software re-use. Following the PDR, Millennium Space Systems is focusing on the detailed design phase in preparation for CDR, with the digital model serving as the design's authoritative single source of truth.

Millennium Space Systems is on contract for MTC space vehicle, or SV, one, with options for SVs two and three. The company expects those options to be exercised, in addition to a contract for SVs four through six in Q4 2023.