The U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command has established a new facility for monitoring space-based sensors in medium Earth orbit.
The MEO Space Operations Center, also known as MSOC, is located at the Boulder Ground Innovation Facility, or BGIF, in Colorado and is expected to enhance missile warning and threat response for the joint force, Space Force said.
SSC’s Strategic Missile Warning, Ground and Integration Interim Overhead Persistent Infrared Tools, Applications and Processing Laboratory is also housed at BGIF.
How Will MSOC Strengthen Missile Defense?
The MSOC will serve a critical role in SSC’s Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking program, which will detect airborne threats.
“The MSOC is the heartbeat of Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking,” according to USSF Col. Ray Imbo, materiel leader for the program’s ground system. “Today’s threats are designed to evade detection across multiple domains, and this system ensures we can track advanced threats, including hypersonic missiles, through all phases of flight.”
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Imbo added that MSOC will close the capability gaps of the current missile warning enterprise by providing real-time tasking, antenna scheduling and cross-domain data fusion.
SSC’s Missile Warning Program Updates
The Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking program recently moved on to Epoch 2, with BAE Systems receiving a contract valued at $1.2 billion to develop 10 missile-tracking satellites. The company is expected to make the delivery beginning in fiscal 2029.
Lt. Col. Brandon Castillo, materiel leader for SSC’s Epoch 2 program office, shared that the satellites will strengthen the resilience of the missile warning and tracking satellite architecture and deliver accurate information about threats in real time to decision-makers.
Epoch 1 satellites built by Boeing subsidiary Millennium Space Systems will be launched starting in late 2026.
