Pentagon’s Commercial Tech Hub on the Hunt for Missile Tracking Sensors, Satellite Disposal

The Defense Innovation Unit, the Pentagon’s commercial technology hub, plans to demonstrate low-cost, commercially derived missile defense sensors on orbit within the next two years, according to a new notice to industry.

In a Feb. 4 solicitation, DIU said it is interested in commercially available sensors or seekers that could be integrated onto a satellite or ground-based interceptor and used to detect and track hypersonic and ballistic missiles and discriminate between decoys and true missile threats. According to DIU’s timeline, prototypes could be tested in a lab within nine months of a contract award and demonstrated on orbit within 12 or 24 months.

The agency is looking for designs that could last five years on orbit or withstand the “dynamic” launch and re-entry conditions required for ground-based interceptor vehicles.

“The objective is to transition toward designs that are affordably produced, minimize supply chain risks, and maximize scalability to meet the urgent demand for space- and interceptor-based sensing capabilities,” the notice states.

The notice comes as both the Space Force and Missile Defense Agency are working with vendors to prototype missile interceptor technology as part of the Pentagon’s Golden Dome effort, which aims to develop an advanced homeland missile defense shield. The program will stitch together a network of sensors and interceptors operating from the ground to in orbit.

The Space Force has awarded contracts to 18 companies to develop space-based interceptors that can destroy missiles in their boost phase, and in early December it issued a notice seeking midcourse interceptors. Meanwhile, MDA has selected more than 2,400 companies to compete for a range of missile defense capability needs, including Golden Dome, as part of its Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense contract.

Meanwhile, on the sensor side, the Space Development Agency is in the midst of fielding a constellation of missile tracking, defense, and fire control satellites in low-Earth orbit that will also be part of the Golden Dome architecture.

While officials have touted SDA and the broader Golden Dome effort as chances for the Pentagon to better integrate commercially derived technology, missile defense has not traditionally been viewed as a commercial endeavor. However, DIU notes that it wants to explore the “diverse” sensing phenomenologies available in the private sector, such as electro-optical, radio frequency, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR), to conduct precise tracking in extreme conditions.

Nearly as important as the capability itself, DIU notes, is cost and scalability. The sensors and seekers should be designed for manufacturability, and companies should be able to produce upwards of 100 units per year at a price point “significantly lower than legacy defense specific sensors when produced at scale.”

Satellite Disposal

In a separate Feb. 4 notice, DIU also indicated it’s interested in commercial systems that can help address a growing challenge in the space environment: the need to dispose of, or deorbit, defunct satellites that are crowding congested orbits.

“As proliferated constellations expand, satellites that experience anomalies or reach the end of mission persist in orbit as hazards that constrain maneuver space, increase collision risk, and degrade mission resilience,” the notices states.

The Defense Department is in the early phases of exploring deorbit capabilities. SDA last month awarded its first contract for “disposal as a service” to Starfish Space. Under the $52 million contract, the company plans to dock its Otter spacecraft to an SDA satellite and move it into a lower altitude where it will deorbit and either burn up in the atmosphere or land in the Pacific Ocean. That demonstration is slated for the 2027 timeframe.

DIU notes that it’s particularly interested in capabilities that require limited “active interaction” with the satellite being transported and that don’t require that satellite to have a docking interface or to have been designed with disposal in mind. Instead, it wants “minimal complexity and reliance on continuous ground control,” the notice states, adding that solutions that demonstrate the ability to safely engage what it calls an “unprepared satellite” could have secondary benefits for the department beyond disposal services.

“Although deorbit is the primary objective, the ability to safely interact with unprepared satellites also establishes a foundation for secondary missions that involve ‘to, through, and from’ operations, providing additional flexibility and long-term benefit to U.S. space operations,” the notice states.

DIU plans to oversee deorbit demonstrations within 18 to 24 months of awarding contracts.