Northrop Grumman [NOC] on July 3 said the Air Force’s recent $82 million award for the Enhanced Polar System Recapitalization (EPS-R) Control and Planning Segment (CAPS)
provides the authority to proceed with the development of software that will transition the program from requirements analysis to test and delivery.
The Air Force awarded the contract in early May and said at the time that it “provides for the development of software to address international host accommodations for new out of band link functions, cyber architecture, orbit planning, and the capability for controlling four EPS Payloads simultaneously on a single software baseline (Defense Daily, May 3).
Northrop Grumman said the international host accommodations are provided by Space Norway.
“Northrop Grumman is committed to delivering the critical ground segment technologies that support the important mission of U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Command,” Rob Fleming, vice president of Strategic Force Programs at Northrop Grumman, said in a statement. “We demonstrate through this contract and in close collaboration with Space and Missile Command that existing ground design and software can be successfully modified to support new and advancing mission requirements, an important strategic priority for our customer.”
The EPS system provides secure, jam-resistant satellite communications coverage to forces in the Arctic region. The CAPS system is the next-generation ground system that receives telemetry and provides commands for the EPS and EPS-R orbiting payloads.
Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor on the major components of the EPS-R CAPS program.