SBIRS uses infrared surveillance to provide early missile warning for the U.S. military and is considered one of the nation’s highest priority space programs. The system includes a combination of satellites and hosted payloads in Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) and Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) and ground hardware and software.

SBIRS Missions

Missile Defense

Critical information supporting the effective operation of missile defense systems

Battlespace Awareness

Comprehensive IR data to help characterize battlespace conditions

Missile Warning

Reliable, unambiguous, timely and accurate warning for theater and strategic missile launches

Technical Intelligence

Characterize IR event signatures, phenomenology and threat performance data

Powerful Data Source

SBIRS has powerful overhead sensors that provide vast amounts of data. At the SBIRS Mission Control Station, Overhead Persistent Infrared Battlespace Awareness Center at Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, this data is being used for operational applications across areas like battlespace awareness, intelligence and 24/7 tactical alerts.

As the demand for remote sensing capabilities continues to rise, the U.S. Air Force’s newly created data utilization Lab is bringing together government, industry and academia to better understand how data from satellites like SBIRS can be better applied on and off the battlefield.

Evolving SBIRS

These newest infrared surveillance and missile warning satellites, known as GEO-5 and GEO-6, will be based on Lockheed Martin’s modernized LM 2100 spacecraft—an update that improves system affordability and resiliency while also adding the flexibility to use future payloads.