Space Based Infrared System GEO Flight 3 launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Image: Lockheed Martin
The United States Space Force (USSF) Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) missile warning satellite program has passed a critical design review (CDR).
The OPIR is the planned successor to the Space-Based Infrared Systems (SBIR) program. Utilizing infrared sensors to detect enemy missiles through their heat signatures, the system is “designed to provide a resilient space-based global missile warning capability against emerging missile and counter-space threats.”