A team led by Northrop Grumman expects to complete work by the end of 2005 on the infra-red sensors and spacecraft buses for two novel, prototype missile-tracking satellites, paving the way for their launch about two years later, according to industry and US defence officials. Once on orbit, the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) intends to use the two Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) satellites to assess how well their sensors can acquire and then track ballistic missiles throughout their trajectory and contribute to the global Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) that the MDA is establishing.
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