Northrop Grumman’s rendering of the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Tracking Layer. Photo: Northrop Grumman

U.S. Space Systems Command (SSC) last Friday released the request for proposals for its Epoch 2 (E2) Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) space vehicles for future missile warning and tracking.

Up to two firm fixed-price contracts are expected for the “prototyping effort that will deliver a global track access system to contain raids of advanced hypersonic and ballistic missiles,” SSC said in a posting on Sam.gov, the government’s business opportunities site. “E2 will demonstrate the ability to integrate with a coordinated enterprise which receives taskings from the Joint Overhead Persistent Infrared Planning Center, executes those taskings through sensor collections and delivers missile tracks back to the enterprise.”

SSC plans to host several industry briefings during the next 10 days to discuss the program. Bids are due by Oct. 11. SSC previously said it plans to make awards around March 2025.

Boeing’s Millennium Space Systems business unit and RTX previously received Epoch 1 contracts and are planning to launch their satellites by the end of 2026.

This story was first published by Defense Daily