Science Applications International has announced it has received a subcontract from Orbital Sciences to deliver a wide-field-of-view sensor. The sensor will be integrated onto a geo-synchronous satellite that Orbital is building for SES AMERICOM.

AMERICOM Government Services (AGS) was awarded a three year, $65 million prime contract with the Air Force to host the sensor onboard a commercial spacecraft. SAIC's subcontract with Orbital has a 35 month period of performance and a total contract value of $19 million.

The program is known as the Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload Flight Demonstration (FD-CHIRP) Program and is a part of SMC's Phoenix Project. The Program is directed by the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The primary purpose of the FD-CHIRP experiment is to test a new type of infrared sensor from geo-synchronous altitude.

This program is the first Air Force scientific experiment hosted on a commercial satellite. The Orbital-developed, SES AMERICOM communications satellite will host an SAIC experimental sensor aboard one of its planned geostationary-orbiting telecommunications satellites. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in 2010.

The Air Force is utilizing this approach for technology risk reduction for the Third Generation Infrared System (3GIRS). In addition to developing the sensor, SAIC will develop algorithms and provide analysis services to help assess the utility of the sensor.

Rob Vasquez, SAIC vice president for DoD Space Operations said, "Our sensor has already been successfully tested on earth. We are very pleased to be selected by AGS and Orbital to participate in this groundbreaking initiative and look forward to testing our sensor from geo-synchronous altitude."