Eighteen Origin 3000 systems for US airforceMountain View 31 November 2000 Aerojet has awarded SGI a contract to providetechnology to power mobile satellite stations for the U.S. Air Force's Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), the U.S.'s next-generation ballistic missile early warning system. Under the contract, SGI will provide 18 SGI Origin 3000 series servers and 27 SGI Onyx 3000 series visualization systems that will be colocated in the mobile satellite ground stations. The SGI Origin 3000 series servers will be used as the front-end of the mission for the ground stations from SBIRS satellites high above the earth. The SGI Onyx 3000 series systems will graphically display the data for U.S. military operators.
The mobile ground station phase of the SBIRS program complements the
fixed ground station sites that are already in place around the world. These
fixed satellite ground stations are currently powered by more than 50 SGI
Origin 2000* servers and more than 250 Silicon Graphics Onyx2
systems. To date, SGI has provided in excess of $120 million worth of hardware,
software and services to SBIRS and its related programs.
SBIRS is designed to replace the Defense Support Program (DSP), a nearly
30-year-old satellite constellation, as the primary initial warning
system for ballistic missile attacks on the United States, its deployed forces
and its allies. This premier system will provide national and theater
commanders with real-time missile warning data used to detect and track missile
launches and cue missile defense systems to target hostile threats.
In November 1996, the U.S. Air Force selected Lockheed Martin (NYSE:
LMT) to lead a team of contractors, including Aerojet, to develop SBIRS. For the
ground segment of the SBIRS program, Aerojet is working with Lockheed
Martin to provide ground systems for satellite control, mission data
processing, telemetry and tracking and operations.
Each of the mobile satellite ground stations will include two
next-generation SGI Origin 3000 series servers (one for redundancy) and
three ruggedized SGI Onyx 3000 series visualization systems. Computer
Ruggedization Integration (CRI) will ruggedize the SGI Onyx 3000 series
systems for use in the mobile ground stations. The SGI Origin 3000
servers do not need to be ruggedized. Each mobile ground station will be
transportable by a military transport aircraft. This will enable the
systems to be delivered anywhere in the world at a moment's notice.
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