A rendering of Relay Ground Station – Asia antennas will be deployed in Guam and connect legacy and next-generation missile-warning and tracking satellites. Photo: Northrop Grumman

Northrop Grumman completed a critical design review for a relay ground station that will support missile-warning satellites, the company announced last week. 

The CDR is for the Relay Ground Station-Asia (RGS-A), for a contract with the U.S. Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific on behalf of the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command. The ground station will support the operation of legacy and future missile-warning satellites.

RGS-A will enable SSC to transform the existing missile-warning system with the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) system. The FORGE architecture involves relay ground stations that can support existing and new satellite constellations and handle changes in bandwidth and availability.

Northrop Grumman reported this can be completed for a 2025 installation date, 18 months prior to the end of the contract. Northrop Grumman worked with L3 Harris Technologies to validate the designs during the CDR. The CDR included various subsystem designs, validation and verification plans and methodology, and final details of the system integration at the deployed location in Guam. 

“We are on track to revolutionize current Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) and Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) missile-warning constellation infrastructure with a much-needed capability in the Pacific region,” commented Calvin Pennamon, director of Operational Exploitation Systems.