Raytheon has submitted its proposal for the U.S. Air Force's Space Fence program. Space Fence, a large, S-band radar to be based in Kwajalein atoll, will be capable of detecting more and much smaller objects in low Earth orbit to provide greater accuracy and timeliness to meet space situational awareness requirements.

"Raytheon's Space Fence solution will track more than 150,000 pieces of unaccounted space debris that threaten manned space flight and the satellites we all rely on for many critical services, including accurate weather forecasts, navigation and financial transactions," said David Gulla, vice president of Global Integrated Sensors in Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems business.

"Raytheon's decades of expertise building large-scale radars in remote locations, our investment in key technologies and the proven success of our working Space Fence prototype enable us to offer the U.S. Air Force a low-risk solution at an affordable price," he added.

Raytheon leads the industry in delivering innovative, affordable and reliable radar solutions, leveraging a 70-year radar heritage to provide global customers a decisive intelligence edge in all domains.

Raytheon produces the world's broadest range of radar solutions and continually works to advance radar technologies to deliver enhanced capabilities for warfighters around the world.

"Raytheon has partnered closely with the Air Force during the technology development phase to understand the requirements and has come up with a number of innovative solutions that will make Space Fence affordable," said Scott Spence, Raytheon's Space Fence program director.

"Raytheon is looking forward to supporting the Air Force as this vital program moves forward."

Space Fence and Space Debris
+ A piece of debris as small as 1 centimeter can seriously damage - or even destroy - an operational satellite.

+ Critical infrastructures such as power grids, banking operations and transportation systems are all dependent on the GPS satellite constellation.

+ The Space Fence system will replace the U.S. Air Force's Space Surveillance System radar that has been operational since 1961.