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ORLANDO, Florida—The first spacecraft from a joint U.S. Space Force and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) program to conduct space situational awareness are close to entering operation next year.
The Silent Barker spacecraft were launched Sept. 10, 2023, aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Since then, the satellites have been undergoing the test-and-checkout phase, which is nearing completion, U.S. Space Command chief Gen. Stephen Whiting told reporters Dec. 11.
“Once they’re through that test-and-checkout, then that data will start to flow into our operational databases,” he said at the Space Force Association’s Spacepower Conference here. “I expect that to happen early-ish in the new year.”
The Silent Barker mission is a largely classified program designed to detect and maintain custody of objects in space and provide threat indications and warnings against satellites in geosynchronous orbit (GEO). Most details about its full capabilities, unit numbers and contractors have not been revealed, but the watchdog constellation eventually is expected to include multiple payloads on orbit to keep eyes on the GEO regime.
The yearlong testing process for the satellites is “not atypical for a completely new constellation,” Whiting said. “Once we get a new series, we do an extended test-and-checkout, and then as we launch new ones, those go much, much faster.”
Silent Barker was conceived as a replacement for aging Space-Based Space Surveillance System satellites.
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