The Air Force Research Lab has contracted with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab to begin initial design work on the Lightweight Electro-Optical Space Sensor. AFRL’s Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland AFB, N.M., will manage the LEOSS program, which, an APL news release, says will serve as a pathfinder for future DOD geosynchronous space situational awareness sensors. APL is to present system requirements in three months, followed by a proposed design in five months.
RTX, parent of Raytheon, Collins and Pratt & Whitney, is getting out of the space prime business and focusing on its "strengths" as a maker of space sensors, buses, and components, company COO Chris Calio said during an earnings call.