Raytheon Space Fence completes preliminary design review

TEWKSBURY, Mass., July 28, 2012. The U.S. Air Force and Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) have completed the preliminary design review contract of the Space Fence program. Space Fence is capable of detecting small objects in low earth orbit to provide accurate details to meet warfighter space situational awareness requirements.

Space debris threatens commonly used systems such as GPS navigation, weather and other critical infrastructures. Space Fence allows these objects to be tracked and avoid collisions with these important systems.

During this PDR program, the Air Force evaluated cost, schedule, the maturity of technology and design in support of transitioning the Space Fence system into production. Space Fence is a multiphase acquisition program, leading to the delivery of up to two, globally positioned, S-band radars operating in the U.S. Space Surveillance Network. This is the second contract Raytheon has completed as part of the Space Fence acquisition program.