The nation’s two Space Tracking and Surveillance System demonstration satellites are ready to participate fully in ballistic missile defense system tests following completion of on-orbit sensor calibration, according to prime contractor Northrop Grumman. The company, together with infrared sensor payload provider Raytheon, finished the calibration tests late last year, states a Northrop release. “We are confident that upcoming tests involving STSS will generate the kind of quality of data that will validate our projections of the value of space-based sensors for missile tracking,” said Doug Young, Northrop’s vice president of missile defense and warning programs. The Missile Defense Agency launched the satellites into low-Earth orbit in September 2009 to test their missile-tracking capabilities. STSS, noted Young, is “the only system capable of tracking ballistic missiles through all phases of [their] flight.” (See also Another On-Orbit Success for STSS from the Daily Report archives)
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.