// UNMANNED SYSTEMS AND NEXT-GEN WARFARE TERM
SBIRS
SBIRS, or Space-Based Infrared System, is a U.S. military satellite constellation designed to detect missile launches and provide early warning of ballistic missile threats. It uses infrared sensors to spot the heat signatures of missiles shortly after liftoff.
TECHNICAL DEFINITION
The Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) is a U.S. Space Force satellite program utilizing infrared sensors on geosynchronous (GEO) and highly elliptical (HEO) orbiting satellites to provide crucial missile warning, missile defense, and battlespace awareness capabilities by detecting ballistic missile launches and tracking their trajectories.
BACKGROUND
The Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) is a United States Space Force system intended to meet the United States' Department of Defense infrared space surveillance needs through the first two to three decades of the 21st century. The SBIRS program is designed to provide key capabilities in the areas of missile warning, missile defense, battlespace characterization and technical intelligence via satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), sensors hosted on satellites in highly elliptical orbit (HEO), and ground-based data processing and control.
READ MORE ON WIKIPEDIASYNONYMS & ALIASES
- Space-Based Infrared System
- missile warning satellite
- infrared early warning system
- GEO/HEO satellites
USAGE NOTE
SBIRS is a cornerstone of global missile defense, providing continuous, real-time intelligence on potential missile threats to the U.S. and its allies.
DEVELOPERS
Organizations developing technology related to SBIRS.
Prime contractor for the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellites, responsible for their design, development, and production for missile warning and defense.
A key partner in the SBIRS program, involved in the development of ground systems and payloads, and a prime contractor for next-generation missile warning systems building on SBIRS technology.
Developed and provides the advanced infrared sensors and focal plane arrays that are critical components of the SBIRS payloads for detecting missile launches.
The military branch responsible for the acquisition, launch, and operation of the SBIRS constellation, defining requirements and overseeing the system's ongoing technology development and upgrades.
A federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) that provides independent technical expertise, systems engineering, and program management support to the U.S. Space Force for programs like SBIRS.
Provides critical sensor technologies, payloads, and ground-based processing solutions for space-based infrared systems, contributing to both current and next-generation missile warning capabilities derived from SBIRS.