Northrop Grumman and Raytheon Company’s Space tracking and surveillance system (STSS) Demonstration program satellites have spotted and trailed the launch of a U.S Air Force ICBM (Inter Continental Ballistic Missile) on the 16th of July 2010. This test launch named Glory Trip 200 GM-1 was the ICBM Minuteman Missile’s 200th test launch.
This missile with 3 stages ropes one immobile reentry machine on the roof of an updated booster, a guidance set up and a post boost carriage. Navigating 4800 miles in half an hour, the missile collided against a target in the Ronald Reagan Test site adjoining Kwajalein Atoll in the Western section of Marshall Islands.
The STSS furnished the recorded information for scrutiny to the Missile Defense Integration and Operations Center at Colo’s Schreiver Air Force Base. One of STSS’s preceding missions was the detection of a 2 stage Ground Based Interceptor.
According to Northrop Grumman’s Vice-President (Missile Defense & Missile Warning Program) Gabe Watson, the STSS satellites’ dependable performance was of great significance to the country’s missile defense programs.
The satellite will be considered as a cosmic sensor component in the Ballistic Missile Defense System by the Missile Defense Agency. The satellites are expected to furnish sensor risk reduction techniques to assist the agency’s upcoming operations.
Northrop Grumman Corp, with a immense labor force of 120,000 workers contribute radical solutions in the fields of aerospace, electronics, shipbuilding and also technical services to commercial clients and governmental bodies, all over the world.
Source: http://www.northropgrumman.com