L3Harris Technologies will be looking into space, at least for the next 10 years. The company has been awarded a contract estimated at $1.2 billion over 10 years for the modernization and maintenance of the space infrastructure used by the armed forces to monitor activities and objects in space as possible threats.
The Maintenance Of Space Situational Awareness Integrated Capabilities (MOSSAIC) contract is with the U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center (a subordinate unit of the Air Force Space Command) and involves support for ground-based space domain awareness sensors and space battle-management command and control capabilities. The MOSSAIC contract is a follow-on program to the Systems Engineering and Sustainment Integrator program won by L3Harris in 2002.
“Space as a warfighting domain has a complex and interdependent system supporting it from the ground, air and space,” said Ed Zoiss, president of L3Harris’ Space and Airborne Systems. “L3Harris supports our customers in each of these domains, giving us a unique understanding of the ecosystem and the mission, and enabling us to make quick modifications, provide necessary sustainment and introduce new capabilities.”
The Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center is a subordinate unit of the Air Force Space Command. With a growing number of satellites, space vehicles and space-based activities, the environment represents an increasing threat for weapons-based systems and the MOSSAIC contract provides for modernization of space-based detection systems and communications of data from those sensors to ground-based control systems.