Northrop Grumman announced Monday that the Missile Defense Agency’s two Space Tracking and Surveillance System demonstration satellites have done what no space-based sensors have done before: track ballistic missiles in flight over their entire flight trajectories. This is dubbed “birth-to-death” tracking. “This is the first time a space-based sensor has tracked a ballistic missile through all phases of its flight, from launch, through midcourse, and re-entry,” said Doug Young, Northrop’s vice president for missile defense and warning. The satellites accomplished the feat by following target missiles launched during two tests of the Navy’s Aegis ballistic missile defense system in March in the waters off of Hawaii. MDA is using the Northrop-built STSS satellites, on orbit since September 2009, to validate the feasibility of space-based sensors to support shooting down ballistic missiles.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
