STSS Demonstration Satellites Track Short-Range Missile During Airborne Laser Test Bed Exercise

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) Demonstration satellites kept an unblinking watch on a boosting missile during an Airborne Laser Test Bed (ALTB) exercise off the Central California coast Sept. 1, 2010. The STSS satellites were built by Northrop Grumman Corporation and Raytheon Company.

The STSS Demonstration satellites faced a different set of challenges than previously seen because of quick timelines associated with the target, according to Gabe Watson, vice president of missile defense and missile warning programs for Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector.

"STSS generated a track with the acquisition sensor and autonomously passed the track to the multi-band track sensor for the first time against a missile target," Watson said. "The system performed very well, without operator control, and provided high-quality track data to the ground station."

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