American technology firm L3Harris has been awarded a $117 million contract to continue modernizing US Space Force infrastructure for improved tracking of objects in space.
The agreement is part of the 10-year Maintenance of Space Situational Awareness Integrated Capabilities (MOSSAIC) program that has an estimated overall value of $1.2 billion.
According to L3Harris Space and Airborne Systems president Ed Zoiss, the object-tracking infrastructure upgrade would help the US Space Force better understand the behavior of objects in space, which is “critical” to warfighting operations.
The modernization would also allow the service to understand the different threats to space satellites better.
“L3Harris space superiority capabilities and differentiated technology provide the foundation for space domain control, protecting assets, and preserving strategic advantages,” the company said in a press release.
In 2020, L3Harris won the initial MOSSAIC contract to upgrade radars, optical sensors, and command and control systems that provide “timely and accurate” space domain awareness data.
Additional Investments in Space
This multimillion-dollar investment in object-tracking infrastructure is part of the US Space Force’s plan to bolster its surveillance capabilities.
In February, the service awarded Northrop Grumman a $341 million contract to develop a Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability for the Space Domain Awareness mission.
As part of the agreement, the company will develop, test, and field a powerful all-weather ground-based radar to monitor the “highly dynamic and rapidly evolving” orbital environment.
The US Space Force is also eyeing a new space domain awareness system for acquisition as it prepares to decommission its existing system by the end of 2022.
