Northrop Completes Initial Design Review for Future Pacific US Missile Defense Ground Station

Northrop Grumman has completed the preliminary design review of Relay Ground Station-Asia (RGS-A) for the US Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific.

RGS-A enables interoperability between legacy and next-generation satellites supporting the US military’s missile launch and missile-warning systems in the Pacific region.

The station will maintain the satellite constellation’s ability to handle changes in bandwidth and availability.

“The preliminary design review exceeded our customers’ expectations and is the next step in delivering much-needed new capabilities to the Pacific region,” Northrop Grumman Strategic Force Programs Vice President Aaron Dann stated.

“Our advanced technologies will deliver what is needed to support missile-warning and missile-tracking satellites that protect our nation and its allies.”

Relay Ground Station-Asia Contract

The review is part of a $99.6 million US Space Force contract awarded last year to design, manufacture, test, and deliver a missile defense relay ground station.

Work for the five-year effort is taking place at the firm’s facility in Boulder, Colorado.

The resulting ground station will be integrated with six antennas to support the Space Systems Command Next-Generation Space-Based Infrared Systems to sustain the operation of legacy satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

RGS-A will be deployed to Guam and is set for installation by late 2025.

“The advanced technologies we bring to this mission build on our proven capabilities to provide existing and future missile warning systems that help keep our nation and its allies safe,” Dann said during the contract announcement.

“The model-based open-systems architecture provides the ability to rapidly deploy follow-on RGS systems in future locations around the world.”