As part of the Pentagon’s space strategy, the article discusses the U.S. military’s hiring of contractors to develop small satellites capable of detecting and tracking ballistic missiles and hypersonic weapons with powerful infrared sensors. With hundreds of space-based sensors and communication nodes watching for incoming threats, tracking their movement, and potentially providing targeting information to missile defense assets, these satellites may become part of a vast and wider early warning constellation.
![sda-top Source: Space Development Agency, https://www.defense.gov/observe/photo-gallery/igphoto/2002511880/](https://dsiac.org/wp-content/uploads/bb-plugin/cache/sda-top-panorama-85503f1581ef8952ac75b2c9493829c2-606f18b19a072.jpg)
Source: Space Development Agency, https://www.defense.gov/observe/photo-gallery/igphoto/2002511880/
October 27, 2020 | Originally published by The Drive on October 6, 2020