Defense News:

The U.S. Space Force is ramping up planning for the second phase of its medium-Earth orbit missile tracking program, part of a broader effort to make the service’s space-based missile defense capabilities more resilient against enemy threats.

Space Systems Command, the Space Force’s primary acquisition arm, released a notice March 31 seeking feedback from companies on its strategy to build a fleet of missile tracking satellites in medium Earth orbit, or MEO, which will reside at an altitude between 1,200 and 22,000 miles (1,931 and 35,406 kilometers) above sea level.

The service hasn’t released the details of its strategy for the second phase of its MEO-based missile tracking architecture, dubbed “Epoch 2,” but said in a statement that it will build on the program’s first epoch, which will feature at least nine satellites built by Millennium Space Systems and Raytheon.

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