In June 2014, Lockheed Martin was contracted by the USAF to build SBIRS GEO-5 and SBIRS GEO-6, at a cost of US$1.86 billion. The first SBIRS GEO satellite of the SBIRS program, SBIRS GEO-1, was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral on an Atlas V launch vehicle on. On 10 July 2009, Lockheed Martin was awarded US$262.5 million as down payment by the USAF towards the purchase of a fourth satellite. On 2 June 2009, Lockheed Martin announced it had been awarded a contract for the third SBIRS HEO payload and the third SBIRS GEO satellite, and for associated ground equipment modifications. In December 2005, following the third SBIRS Nunn-McCurdy violation, the government decided to compete SBIRS GEO-4 and SBIRS GEO-5, with an option to buy the SBIRS GEO-3 contingent based on the performance of the first two.

By September 2007, the expected project cost had increased to US$10.4 billion. SBIRS continues to struggle with cost overruns, with Nunn-McCurdy breaches occurring in 20. A complement of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) was planned as part of the program (SBIRS-Low), but this has been moved into the Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) program. The original contract consisted of 2 SBIRS HEO satellite sensors and 2-3 SBIRS GEO sensors (and satellites) with an option to buy a total of 5 GEOs. SBIRS is to use more sophisticated infrared technologies than the DSP to enhance the detection of strategic and theater ballistic missile launches and the performance of the missile-tracking function. the Follow-on Early Warning System in the early 1990sДЄccording to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), these attempts failed due to immature technology, high cost, and affordability issues.the Boost Surveillance and Tracking System in the late 1980s.the Advanced Warning System in the early 1980s.DoD had previously attempted to replace DSP with: DSP satellites are built with infrared detectors that can sense missile plumes, and have been providing early warning for long-range ballistic missile launches for over 30 years. In 1994, DoD studied consolidating various infrared space requirements, such as for ballistic missile warning and defense, technical intelligence, and battlespace characterization, and it selected SBIRS to replace and enhance the capabilities provided by the Defense Support Program (DSP). Department of Defense (DoD) concluded that expanded theater missile warning capabilities were needed, and it began planning for an improved infrared satellite sensor capability that would support both long-range strategic and short-range theater ballistic missile warning and defense operations. 3.2 Space Tracking and Surveillance SystemД«ased on its experiences with the launching of short-range theater missiles by Iraq during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the U.S.3 SBIRS Low (Space Tracking and Surveillance System).The manufacturing contract for SBIRS GEO-5 and SBIRS GEO-6 was awarded in 2014, with GEO-6 scheduled for delivery to the Space Force in 2022. The SBIRS program is designed to provide key capabilities in the areas of missile warning, missile defense and battlespace characterization via satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), sensors hosted on satellites in highly elliptical orbit (HEO), and ground-based data processing and control.ДЄs of January 2018, a total of eleven satellites carrying SBIRS or Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) payloads had been launched: SBIRS GEO-1 ( USA-230, 2011), SBIRS GEO-2 ( USA-241, 2013), SBIRS GEO-3 ( USA-273, 2017), SBIRS GEO-4 ( USA-282, 2018), SBIRS GEO-5 ( USA-315, 2021), SBIRS HEO-1 ( USA-184, 2006), SBIRS HEO-2 ( USA-200, 2008), SBIRS HEO-3 ( USA-259, 2014), STSS-ATRR ( USA-205, 2009), STSS Demo 1 ( USA-208, 2009) and STSS Demo 2 ( USA-209, 2009).

The Space-Based Infrared System ( SBIRS) is a United States Space Force system intended to meet the United States' infrared space surveillance needs through the first two to three decades of the 21st century. Configuration of SBIRS systems: GEO, HEO and Low components.

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