Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing [NYSE: BA] company, achieved the Missile Track Custody (MTC) space vehicle Critical Design Review (CDR) less than a year after authorization to proceed.
The company will now deliver six space vehicles for MTC Epoch 1. This includes the original contract option for two additional vehicles and an expanded Other Transaction Authority (OTA) for vehicles four through six.
The review for the full space segment of the program with a complete space vehicle and constellation design was done in less than five months after Preliminary Design Review (PDR), which was completed in just four months.
Since day one, digital engineering has been a central focus of the program. The MTC space vehicle CDR builds on the digital, model-based PDR of the MTC Mission Payload CDR from November of 2022. The focus on digital engineering streamlined data product generation and analysis as the space vehicle design matured, as well as communications with suppliers and customers.
“The missile warning and defense architecture must be rapidly fielded, resilient in a wartime environment and ready to defend the Nation and our Allies. MTC is a key element of that architecture, proving out the ability to deliver a resilient constellation with speed.” — Colonel Heather Bogstie, senior materiel leader for the SSC Space Sensing Resilient Missile Warning, Missile Tracking, Missile Defense (MW/MT/MD) program office.
“We’re making the need for speed a reality. MTC is a critical capability in the nation’s resilient, layered missile warning and defense architecture, and schedule is paramount. We are bringing all of Millennium’s experience moving with speed to meet operational imperatives.” — Jason Kim, CEO, Millennium Space Systems