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The Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) is a consolidated system intended to meet the United States' infrared space surveillance needs through the first two to three decades of the 21st century. The SBIRS program is designed to provide key capabilities in the areas of missile warning, missile defense and battlespace characterization. SBIRS is an integrated "system of systems" that will include satellites in geosynchronous orbit (GEO), sensors hosted on satellites in highly elliptical orbit (HEO), and ground-based data processing and control. A complement of satellites in low earth orbit was planned as part of the program (SBIRS Low), but this has been moved into the STSS program. SBIRS ground software integrates infrared sensor programs of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) with new IR sensors. SBIRS continues to struggle with cost overruns,〔(【引用サイトリンク】date=7 May 1999 )〕 with Nunn-McCurdy breaches occurring in 2001 and 2005. By September 2007, the expected project cost had increased to $10.4 billion.〔(【引用サイトリンク】date=12 September 2007 )〕〔(CDI: Fact Sheet on Space Based Infrared System )〕 The original contract consisted of 2 HEO satellite sensors and 2-3 GEO sensors (and satellites) with an option to buy a total of 5 GEOs. In December 2005, following the third SBIRS Nunn-McCurdy violation, the government decided to compete GEO 4 and 5, with an option to buy the GEO 3 contingent based on the performance of the first two. Additionally, the government started a potential SBIRS High replacement program, writing out proposals in June 2006. On June 2, 2009 Lockheed Martin announced it had been awarded a contract for the third HEO payload and the third GEO satellite, and for associated ground equipment modifications.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=U.S. Air Force Awards Lockheed Martin $1.5-Billion Contract For SBIRS Follow-On Spacecraft )〕 On July 10, 2009, Lockheed Martin was awarded $262.5 million as down payment by the USAF towards the purchase of a fourth satellite. The first GEO satellite of the SBIRS program, GEO-1, was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral on an Atlas V rocket on May 7, 2011.〔(United Launch Alliance report )〕 In summary, as of December 2014, a total of eight satellites carrying SBIRS or STSS payloads had been launched: GEO-1 (USA-230, 2011), GEO-2 (USA-241, 2013), HEO-1 (USA-184, 2006), HEO-2 (USA-200, 2008), HEO-3 (USA-259, 2014), STSS-ATRR (USA-205, 2009), STSS Demo 1 (USA-208, 2009) and STSS Demo 2 (USA-209, 2009). In June 2014 Lockheed Martin was contracted by the USAF to build GEO-5 and GEO-6 at a cost of $1.86 billion. ==Background== Based on its experiences with the launching of short-range theater missiles by Iraq during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) concluded that expanded theater missile warning capabilities were needed, and it began planning for an improved infrared satellite sensor capability that would support both long-range strategic and short-range theater ballistic missile warning and defense operations. In 1994, DOD studied consolidating various infrared space requirements, such as for ballistic missile warning and defense, technical intelligence, and battlespace characterization, and it selected SBIRS to replace and enhance the capabilities provided by the Defense Support Program (DSP). The Defense Support Program is a strategic surveillance and early warning satellite system with an infrared capability to detect long-range ballistic missile launches, and has been operational for over 30 years. DOD has previously attempted to replace the Defense Support Program with: *the Advanced Warning System in the early 1980s *the Boost Surveillance and Tracking System in the late 1980s *the Follow-on Early Warning System in the early 1990s According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), these attempts failed due to immature technology, high cost, and affordability issues. SBIRS is to use more sophisticated infrared technologies than the DSP to enhance the detection of strategic and theater ballistic missile launches and the performance of the missile-tracking function. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Space-Based Infrared System」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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