Current SBIRS missile warning satellites (pictured) will be replaced by the Next Gen OPIR constellation. (File)
COLORADO SPRINGS: The Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) missile warning satellite program is progressing on schedule towards a first launch in 2025, according to officials from Space Force’s new Space Systems Command.
The next step is a system-wide critical design review (CDR) that should be finished by the end of the year, Col. Brian Denaro, SSC program executive officer (PEO) for Space Development, who manages the Next Gen OPIR program, told reporters at the Space Foundation’s annual Space Symposium.
His comments come a day after SSN announced that the program, designed to replace the current Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) constellation, has just successfully wrapped up a CDR of one key element: the Block 0 Geosynchronous Earth Orbit Space Vehicle.
Block 0 is the first iteration of satellites, composed of three satellites in GEO being built by Lockheed Martin, and two satellites in polar orbits, being built by Northrop Grumman.
“With this successful CDR, we remain on schedule to launch the first GEO satellite in 2025,” Denaro said in the release.
The House Armed Services Committee just last month chided Space Force for what it said were overly optimistic assessments of the cost and schedule for Next-Gen OPIR. The HAC report notes that the Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) has concluded that the planned launch in 2025 of the first program satellite, being built by Lockheed Martin, is “unrealistic.”
Asked about the disconnect, Denaro said that part of the problem is such reviews are based on historical evidence and trend analysis rather than current data.
The recent CDR evaluated “the cost, schedule, performance of the system as it relates to the space vehicle, as well as evaluating the risk,” he elaborated today. “So, out of that review … we had a number of items that we are going to tackle here in the near future, and that will lead toward a system-level critical design review here in the next several months, likely before the end of the year. That’s … the venue in which we’re evaluating that risk. At this point, we do not assess any impact to the schedule, but continue to evaluate that day by day.”
