Northrop Completes Preliminary Design Review of Next-Gen Relay Ground Stations in Pacific Region

Northrop Grumman recently completed a successful preliminary design review (PDR) of Relay Ground Station-Asia (RGS-A) for the U.S. Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific.

RGS-A will connect critical legacy and next-generation satellites and end users.

The successful PDR confirms the company is on track to transform the existing missile-warning system.

The U.S. Space Force is working to transform the existing missile-warning system with the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) system. A cornerstone of the FORGE architecture includes developing relay ground stations capable of supporting existing and new satellite constellations with the ability to handle changes in bandwidth and availability.

Northrop Grumman was awarded a $99.6 million five-year contract from NIWC Pacific last year to design, develop, integrate, test and deliver the relay ground station. The majority of the work will take place at Northrop Grumman’s campus in Boulder, Colorado.

NIWC Pacific will develop six antennas for RGS-A to enable the Space Systems Command (SSC) next generation Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) ground system which keeps legacy satellites in geosynchronous orbit. RGS-A will be deployed to Guam and is on schedule to be installed by late 2025.