El Departamento de Defensa de EUA tiene previsto avanzar en el 2023, con el desarrollo de una constelaci\u00f3n de sat\u00e9lites, que permitan cubrir las necesidades de defensa en el espacio, contra la amenaza de los disruptivos misiles Hipers\u00f3nicos (HM). El programa inter-agencia entre la Missile Defense Agency (MDA), la Space Force y la Space Development Agency (SDA), denominado Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS), prev\u00e9 disponer de multiplicidad de sensores satelitales, de medio y amplio campo de visi\u00f3n. Los mismos deben ser capaces de \u201ctrackear\u201d de manera constante los HM, dif\u00edciles de seguir y adquirir por los modernos sistemas de Def Ae & Mis existentes, no solo por su extrema velocidad, sino tambi\u00e9n por su maniobrabilidad y capacidad de vuelo a baja altura.<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON: The Defense Department will decide whether to go forward with a program to develop and field new space-based sensors capable of tracking hypersonic weapons sometime late next year, with the Missile Defense Agency asking for $89 million in fiscal 2023 funds to launch two prototypes, said MDA head Vice Adm. Jon Hill.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters Monday on the release of the Defense Department\u2019s FY23 budget request, Hill said the decision on whether to \u201cproliferate\u201d the\u00a0Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS)<\/a>\u00a0would be made jointly by MDA, the Space Force and the\u00a0Space Development Agency (SDA)<\/a>.<\/p>\n HBTSS, with a medium field-of-view, is to be paired with another set of sensor satellites with a wide field-of-view being developed by SDA under its\u00a0Tracking Layer effort.\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0Together, the two types of satellites would create a network in Low Earth Orbit that can detect and keep constant track of maneuvering hypersonic missiles that are difficult targets for current Pentagon missile warning satellites and radar.<\/p>\n \u201cWe should have data coming down in the summer \u201923 or so, and we\u2019ll be able to help the Space Force make decisions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The goal, Hill said, is to integrate the HBTSS, along with SDA\u2019s Tracking Layer satellites, into the Space Force\u2019s overarching architecture for missile warning\/tracking, with the service taking on operations of the HBTSS satellites as well.<\/p>\n Tracking and then taking out hypersonic weapons, which by definition travel at least five times the speed of sound, won\u2019t be easy.<\/p>\n The plan is for HBTSS satellites to be cued by the\u00a0Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS)<\/a>\u00a0and the aging Defense Support Satellites \u2014 and in future the\u00a0Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared System (Next-Gen OPIR)<\/a>\u00a0satellites \u2014 that detect the infrared plumes from missile launches. The HBTSS sensors would track the missiles in their high-speed glide phase, then \u201chand off\u201d targeting coordinates to shooters such as the Navy\u2019s\u00a0Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense<\/a>\u00a0system and the Army\u2019s\u00a0Theater High Altitude Area Defense<\/a>\u00a0interceptors.<\/p>\n