The Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., plans on Jan. 25-26 to hold an industry discussion about development of a Space Based Space Surveillance Objective System. The proposed SBSS system would be a constellation of electro-optical sensing satellites that will search for, detect, and track objects in near earth and deep space orbits. It builds upon a 1996 concept demonstration called the Space Based Visible Telescope, which USAF deployed on the Mid-course Space Experiment satellite. The SBV telescope is approaching its end of life.
The Pentagon’s Golden Dome project could cost about $1.2 trillion over the next two decades, and it still may not be able to fend off a major missile attack from a peer adversary, according to a new estimate from the Congressional Budget Office.