Northrop Grumman says it has tested an enhanced targeting capability on a Joint STARS test aircraft, on which crews demonstrated “precision and long-term tracking of maritime targets.” Testers also used a current standard off-the-shelf server, integrating it into the aircraft’s data management baseline. Use of COTS hardware is not new to Joint STARS; Northrop changed over the entire fleet to “open systems” configuration in 2005. Northrop received a contract for the Enhanced Land/Maritime Mode system earlier this year.
A new Space Force partnership with Blue Origin to expand payload processing capacity at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., will allow the launch range to support as many as 16 more missions per year.
