Northrop Grumman has been selected to deliver a commercially derived prototype satellite for the US Space Force’s GHOST-R programme, a space domain awareness effort linked to Space Systems Command and the Department of War Innovation Unit. The spacecraft will use Northrop’s ESPASat-L bus and optical payloads from TRL-11, with assembly, integration, test and delivery planned on an accelerated 24-month schedule split between the company’s Dulles, Virginia, and Gilbert, Arizona facilities.
GHOST-R, short for Geosynchronous High-Resolution Optical Space-Based Tactical Reconnaissance, is intended to provide high-resolution imagery and weekly observations of target satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit. The mission is designed to supplement existing surveillance systems with commercial capacity and support a hybrid constellation architecture for tracking objects in GEO.
A second report published two days later confirmed the award and described the spacecraft as a demonstration of responsive GEO surveillance capabilities. The selection underlines the Space Force’s continued push towards faster, lower-cost commercial satellite development for orbital monitoring and persistent coverage in geostationary orbit.