Experimental U.S. Missile Defense Satellites Pass Big Tests

A pair of experimental U.S. missile defense satellites has passed a series of vital tests in space, spotting three missile launches and successfully relaying data about their trajectories to observers on Earth.

The two satellites make up the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) and were built by Northrop Grumman and Raytheon for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency as a demonstration of technology to protect the United States from enemy missiles. The $1.5 billion STSS Demonstration mission was launched in September 2009.

The STSS's most recent test, the June 28 observation U.S. Missile Defense Agency rocket launch during an intercept test, was "the most thorough indication yet of the space-based sensor's capabilities," Northrop Grumman officials said in a statement.

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