CLASSIFIED
HBTSS-SV2
US Hypersonic Missile Tracking Satellite · L3Harris / Missile Defense Agency
Right now
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HBTSS-SV2 was one of two competing US Missile Defense Agency prototypes launched February 2024 to solve a hard problem: hypersonic missiles fly low, fast, and maneuver unpredictably enough to dodge the tracking systems built for older ballistic missiles. L3Harris built this one; Northrop Grumman built the other, and only L3Harris's satellite worked — confirmed by the MDA in April 2025, then again in April 2026 tracking a live hypersonic target with the precision needed to actually guide an interceptor. It is no longer just a prototype: in July 2026, the Space Development Agency awarded L3Harris a $955M contract for 18 production satellites building directly on this technology, as part of the Golden Dome missile-defense program.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 618–634 mi (994–1,020 km)
- Inclination
- 40.0°
- One orbit
- 105.1 minutes13.7 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 58955
- Int’l designator
- 2024-028A
- Launched
- 2024
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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