Millennium Space Systems, a Boeing company, achieved the Missile Track Custody (MTC) space vehicle Critical Design Review (CDR) less than a year after authorization to proceed. Millennium Space Systems 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 missile warning and defense architecture must be rapidly fielded, resilient in a wartime environment, and ready to defend the Nation and our Allies," said Col. Heather Bogstie, senior materiel leader for the SSC Space Sensing Resilient Missile Warning, Missile Tracking, Missile Defense (MW/MT/MD) program office. "MTC is a key element of that architecture, proving out the ability to deliver a resilient constellation with speed."

"We're making the need for speed a reality," said Jason Kim, CEO, of Millennium Space Systems. "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."

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 the Preliminary Design Review (PDR), which was completed in just four months.

"This timeline really required us to look at traditional CDR requirements and decide what works and what doesn't," said Lindsay Dewald, deputy program manager of Millennium Space Systems MTC program. "And we changed the paradigm, balancing between doing things differently while taking advantage of a mature, flight-proven spacecraft baseline architecture from multiple on-orbit constellations. Our vertical integration also brings significant prior investments and an active production line."

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 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.

"We are now full steam ahead on the production of six space vehicles and getting into integration and test," said Dewald. "Our focus in 2024 is performing high-fidelity testing before we hit the floor with vehicle builds, reducing risks on the first vehicle, which further reduces risks for the subsequent five vehicles."

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