Pentagon Scales Back SBIRS Program

摘要

The U.S. Air Force will seek congressional approval next year to begin work on a new missile-warning satellite system to replace the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS), which is being scaled back from at least five to no more than three spacecraft due to technical difficulties that have proven intractable, according to senior Pentagon officials. The follow-on system, to be competitively selected, will take advantage of more up-to-date sensor and software technology than SBIRS, which is still years away from first launch yet employs programming code that dates back to the 1970s. At the same time, however, the follow-on program will not be as ambitious as SBIRS in terms of performance relative to its predecessor, officials said.