Air Force Space Command awarded Harris and ITT Exelis separate contracts to help define the service’s next-generation weather-monitoring satellite. Harris will perform “cost-conscious space-to-ground trades” for the future satellite’s ground architecture under the Weather Satellite Follow-on Activities risk-reduction technology project, announced service space acquisition officials on Feb 25. The company’s detailed architectures analysis is meant to “generate integrated space and ground solutions” that will yield “the architecture responsive to various satellite constellations, including disaggregated solutions,” states the release. ITT Exelis’ work will focus on delivering an updated design for the Enhanced Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer sensor, according to a second release on Feb. 25. “ITT’s development effort aims to present the government with an affordable, high technology-readiness-level sensor adaptable to current and future ground systems capable of being flown on multiple platforms,” states the release. AFSPC said it anticipates awarding multiple contracts for WSFA risk reduction. (See also Weather Satellite Reboot.)
President Donald Trump is proposing a 13 percent increase in defense spending for fiscal 2026, growth that could mean the first ever $1 trillion defense budget, according to a document obtained by Air & Space Forces Magazine.