SBIRS GEO-6

SBIRS GEO-6 is expected to launch in July 2022 and is the last SBIRS program launch.

Lockheed Martin Space, Northrop Grumman Space Systems, The Aerospace Corporation, multiple support contractors, and government personnel formed a combined team supporting SBIRS GEO-6 production and delivery.

Loadmasters from the 60th Air Mobility Wing and Lockheed Martin Space unloaded SBIRS GEO-6 from a C-5M Super Galaxy at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on 2022-06-02.

SBIRS GEO-6 was deployed to a customized geosynchronous transfer orbit approximately 22,0 m above the equator.

After separation from the main stage about five minutes after liftoff, the Centaur upper stage began the first of three planned engine firings to deliver SBIRS GEO-6 to the intended orbit.

The SBIRS GEO-6 mission was the sixth and last of the Space Based Infrared System constellation of geosynchronous satellites equipped with scanning and staring infrared sensors to detect ballistic missile launches anywhere on the globe.

SBIRS GEO-6 is the sixth and final satellite in the Space Based Infrared System constellation.

Northrop Grumman provided propulsion, key composite structures, and other critical components on the Atlas V launch vehicle for SBIRS GEO-6.

The sixth Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit satellite is designated SBIRS GEO-6.

The SBIRS GEO-6 missile-warning satellite launched successfully on 2022-08-04.

A final slip in the SBIRS GEO-6 launch schedule moved GTOSat’s launch timing into a regime that pushed its predicted deorbit beyond the 25-year limit.

Lockheed Martin built the SBIRS GEO-6 satellite through Lockheed Martin Space in Sunnyvale, California.

SBIRS GEO-6 began responding to U.S. Space Force commands as planned.

SBIRS GEO-6 joins the U.S. Space Force’s constellation of missile warning satellites equipped with scanning and staring infrared surveillance sensors.

The 4,500-kilogram Space Based Infrared (SBIRS) GEO-6 satellite that launched last August carries roughly 500 kg of infrared sensors as payload mass.

Operational acceptance of SBIRS GEO-6 completes the SBIRS GEO system.

SBIRS GEO-6 exceeded performance expectations during on-orbit testing and achieved operational acceptance about 40 percent faster than the program’s historic average testing times.

Upon separation from the Atlas V’s Centaur upper stage, SBIRS GEO-6 reached its intended orbit and satellite operations personnel began checkout activities of its light shade, solar arrays, and antennas.

SBIRS GEO-5 and GEO-6 were in production incorporating a modernized A2100 spacecraft bus to reduce costs and cycle times and enable future configurable sensor suites.

United Launch Alliance will receive $441,760,000 under a fixed-price contract to launch SBIRS GEO-5, SBIRS GEO-6, and Silent Barker.