Northrop Grumman to Supply Navigation System for SBIRS GEO-5 Satellite

Dec. 9, 2014

Northrop Grumman Corporation  has been selected by prime contractor Lockheed Martin to provide its space inertial reference system for the U.S. Air Force Space-Based Infrared System's (SBIRS) fifth Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite.

Northrop Grumman will provide its Scalable Space Inertial Reference Unit (Scalable SIRU^™) for sensor pointing/stabilization and attitude control on the SBIRS GEO-5 mission. Northrop Grumman has also provided its Scalable SIRU^™ for previous SBIRS GEO satellites.

"This award extends our support of the SBIRS program and reaffirms our status as the provider of choice for complex technical missions," said Bob Mehltretter, vice president, Navigation and Positioning Systems, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems. "We are committed to providing products that meet the highest performance and reliability standards for current and next-generation SBIRS satellites."

The SBIRS program delivers early warning of ballistic missile launches, missile defense, technical intelligence and battlespace awareness. The SBIRS architecture features a mix of satellites in GEO, hosted payloads in highly elliptical orbit, and ground hardware and software.