The US Space Force has selected L3Harris Technologies to build 18 new satellites designed to track advanced missile threats and support the Golden Dome missile defense architecture.
Awarded through the Space Development Agency, the contract covers Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3 satellites equipped with medium-field-of-view sensors.
According to L3Harris, the payloads are designed to generate fire-control-quality tracking data that could support responses to ballistic and hypersonic missile threats.
Production will begin at the company’s expanded space manufacturing facility in Indiana and its new satellite integration facility in Florida.
US Expands Space-Based Missile Tracking
Washington has been building a layered network of satellites, ground systems, and communications infrastructure to improve the detection and tracking of increasingly complex missile threats.
In March, BAE Systems completed the preliminary design review for the $1.2-billion Resilient Missile Warning & Tracking Medium Earth Orbit Epoch 2 program, advancing plans for a 10-satellite constellation and supporting ground systems.
Earlier, in January, SpaceX received contracts to launch new missile warning and tracking satellites into low-Earth orbit, while Sierra Space completed the first nine structures for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer ahead of schedule. The satellites will carry infrared sensors designed to detect and track ballistic, hypersonic, and other advanced missile threats.
The developments follow Northrop Grumman’s December 2025 contract to support Tracking Layer Tranche 3 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, further expanding the US military’s space-based missile detection network.
