2011 Funding Request Includes New Sat System

Aviation Week and Space Technology ^ | 2/11/2010 | Amy Butler

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

The Obama administration’s proposed 2011 spending plan includes some changes to major missile defense and space programs that emphasize a focus on space situational awareness and ballistic missile tracking capabilities. The proposal also underpins the aging nuclear weapons infrastructure, while adhering to the aim of eventually scrapping nuclear forces altogether and securing so-called nuclear loose material worldwide.

Few new expensive programs are being started in Fiscal 2011, and the most dramatic shift in the funding request is the termination of the joint Defense-Commerce Dept. National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (see p. 14).

By contrast, the Air Force is setting aside funding for a follow-on Space-Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) procurement. The first SBSS, a Ball Aerospace/Boeing project that features a two-axis gimballed visible-light sensor to surveil satellites in geosynchronous orbit, is complete and slated for launch this summer. The follow-on project will include a competition to design more satellites for a constellation, says Gary Payton, deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for space.