Who supplies Next Gen OPIR? Inside the Space Force's missile-warning supply chain
Published September 14, 2026 / Next Gen OPIR supplier analysis, FY2021-FY2025
The Space Force's next generation of missile-warning satellites is moving toward launch.
Lockheed Martin says its two Next Gen OPIR geosynchronous satellites will be available for launch in 2026 and 2027. Separately, BAE Systems delivered flight hardware in May 2026 for the first Polar satellite, which is scheduled to launch in September 2028.
The Polar program's future is contested. The Space Force proposed terminating it in its FY2027 budget request, while the House-passed defense authorization bill would require both planned satellites to proceed.
Next Gen OPIR is intended to augment and ultimately replace the Space Based Infrared System, or SBIRS. But the transition is not simply moving the existing supply chain onto a new satellite.
Next Gen OPIR supplier sites identified
SBIRS supplier sites identified
supplier sites visible on both programs
Next Gen OPIR sites not visible in same-period SBIRS records
The program is moving toward launch
Lockheed Martin's stated launch-availability dates for the two GEO satellites.
Current target for the first Polar launch, with the program's future contested in the FY2027 budget process.
The supplier footprint is not a one-for-one continuation
Mimir-mapped first-tier supplier sites, FY2021-FY2025
Mimir's data identifies 411 supplier sites in mapped first-tier subcontract records associated with Next Gen OPIR. Over the same period, 168 supplier sites appeared on SBIRS. Only 84 sites appeared on both programs.
That means exactly half of the recently active SBIRS supplier sites identified during the period also appear on Next Gen OPIR. But those shared sites represent only around one in five of the supplier sites identified on the new program.
Put another way, 327 of the 411 Next Gen OPIR supplier sites - around 80% - do not appear in the same-period SBIRS records.
Selected facility-level positions
Visible on both programs
Selected sites appearing in both Next Gen OPIR and SBIRS records
Northrop Grumman
Azusa, California
Infrared sensing and mission-payload work
Honeywell
Clearwater, Florida
Onboard computing
General Dynamics Mission Systems
Scottsdale, Arizona
Navigation equipment
L3Harris (formerly Aerojet Rocketdyne)
Redmond, Washington
Spacecraft propulsion
Kratos
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Communications subsystem equipment
Visible on Next Gen OPIR, not FY2021-FY2025 SBIRS
Selected sites from the 327-site difference
Raytheon
El Segundo, California
GEO missile-warning sensor payloads
SEAKR Engineering
Centennial, Colorado
Payload data-processing hardware
Frequency Electronics
Uniondale, New York
Space-qualified timing and frequency equipment
Honeywell
Glendale, Arizona
Spacecraft power and electronic systems
Toray Advanced Composites
Morgan Hill, California
Space-grade composite materials
Continuity in mission, change in the visible supply chain
The result is a mixture of continuity and change. Next Gen OPIR retains many of the specialist companies that supported the existing missile-warning architecture, while expanding into a wider base of payload-processing, communications, software, electronics and advanced-material suppliers.
For companies assessing the U.S. military-space market, describing Next Gen OPIR simply as the replacement for SBIRS misses an important part of the picture. The mission continues, but the visible supplier footprint around the new architecture is materially different.
Lockheed Martin Next Gen OPIR, BAE Systems Polar hardware delivery, Raytheon GEO sensor delivery, FY2027 defense budget request, House-passed defense authorization text, USAspending, FPDS and Mimir Data Platform and Modeling.
Mimir analysis of positive first-tier subcontract records, FY2021-FY2025. Supplier sites are defined as distinct CAGE codes. The comparison captures the supplier footprint visible in records during the period, not the complete historical supply chain or official program supplier totals. Site examples describe the relevant facility-level position and do not imply that all company activity is tied to the program.