# Project 657009 — Space Mod Initiative **Program element:** 1206442SF — Next Generation OPIR **Project:** 657009 **Component:** U.S. Space Force **Appropriation:** 3620F — RDT&E, Space Force **Budget Activity:** 5 — System Development & Demonstration **Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027 **Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206442SF/657009 **Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206442SF ## Summary Project 657009 — Space Mod Initiative requests $179.5M in FY2027, 86% of the $209.9M requested for program element 1206442SF, up 12% on FY2026. 5 R-2A activities decompose the request, 1 new this cycle. Booz Allen is the largest named R-3 performer at $1.2M, 0.7% of the project's FY2027 R-3 total. ## Funding profile | Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) | |---|---|---| | FY2025 | Actual | 158.7 | | FY2026 | Enacted | 160.1 | | FY2027 | Request | 179.5 | | FY2028 | Outyear | 189.7 | | FY2029 | Outyear | 191.5 | | FY2030 | Outyear | 195.8 | | FY2031 | Outyear | 199.7 | > Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 1206442SF; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them. ## What project 657009 buys Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) Space Modernization Initiative (SMI) (Project 657009): To better enable response to emerging global missile threats, SMI advances critical capabilities and reduces risk through five major thrust areas: Demonstrations/Prototypes, Technology Maturation, Data Processing & Analytics, Wide Field of View (WFOV) On-Orbit Testbed Mission Integration, and Capability Exploitation, each with a flagship investment. Demonstrations rapidly prototype new game-changing technologies for the broader mission warning enterprise by delivering ground and on-orbit prototypes. Demonstrations also advance OPIR capabilities for missile warning and tracking ensuring a low risk, smooth transition of advanced technology to future operational systems. Technology Maturation focuses investments on high pay-off critical components to reduce production risks and development costs. Technology Maturation also focuses development on advanced Infrared (IR) sensing optics and electronics, resiliency hardware and software, and on-board processing algorithms and on-board computers. Data Processing & Analytics provides return-on-investment aimed at ingestion and fusion of current and future proliferated sensor program data to enhance missile warning, missile defense, battlespace awareness and technical intelligence mission capabilities. This includes the processing and exploitation of legacy Space Based Infrared Systems (SBIRS) wideband data and its fusion with Wide Field of View (WFOV) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) wideband sensor. Subsequently, this work will expand to include the ingestion and fusion of WFOV Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Next-Gen GEO, Resilient Missile Warning/Missile Tracking (MW/MT) Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) and other data as it becomes available as well as overcoming the proliferated sensor challenges expected with the large volumes of data and tracks that could overwhelm the enterprise and operators. Data Processing & Analytics will focus on automation and innovation to overcome these challenges to include Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) that reduce cognitive workload reduction of the operators. **R-3 lines of work:** Product Development; Management Services. ## Named R-3 performers | Performer | $M | Share of this project's FY2027 R-3 total | |---|---|---| | Booz Allen | 1.2 | 0.7% | > Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations. Shares need not reach 100% — unnamed and government work is in the denominator. ## Activities (R-2A) — 5 | Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Data Processing & Analytics | 93.2 | 83.9 | 78.1 | −7% | [a2](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206442SF/657009/a2) | | Demonstrations/Prototypes | 30.4 | 46.8 | 38.5 | −18% | [a0](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206442SF/657009/a0) | | Technology Maturation | 35.2 | 10.9 | 24.6 | +126% | [a1](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206442SF/657009/a1) | | Capability Exploitation | — | — | 20.0 | new | [a4](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206442SF/657009/a4) | | Wide Field of View (WFOV) On-Orbit Testbed Mission Integration | — | 18.5 | 18.2 | −1% | [a3](https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206442SF/657009/a3) | > Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only — no five-year plan. In the request year they partition this project exactly; in earlier years they can under-cover it. ### Data Processing & Analytics As the Data Processing & Analytics flagship investment, Space Modernization Initiative (SMI) will exploit emerging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) solutions to deliver tools necessary to operate the Proliferated Warfighting Architecture and manage the warfighters' cognitive load that will be stressed by the volume of… Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206442SF/657009/a2 ### Demonstrations/Prototypes The flagship investment for SMI Demonstrations in FY 2026 matures into FY 2027 as the orbital vehicles manufactured by K2 Space complete integration and are launched into MEO. The current plan is to test Space Development Agency (SDA) v4.0 optical crosslinks in orbit from multiple orbital vehicles in MEO and in a higher orbit (in… Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206442SF/657009/a0 ### Technology Maturation Through Technology Maturation, Space Modernization Initiative (SMI) will continue to ensure the final components needed to meet Missile Warning/Missile Tracking (MW/MT) Enterprise-wide peak production demands for large format, resilient, high dynamic range infrared Focal Plane Arrays (FPAs) and protective filters and coatings for the… Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206442SF/657009/a1 ### Capability Exploitation — NEW START Capability Exploitation is a new start. In FY 2027, Capability Exploitation will operationalize the first transition of an Space Modernization Initiative (SMI)-derived effort into this construct through the ThinKom phased array antenna initiative. Originally launched to rapidly demonstrate and inform requirements for the Resilient Ground… Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206442SF/657009/a4 ### Wide Field of View (WFOV) On-Orbit Testbed Mission Integration The Wide Field of View (WFOV) system is an operationally-contributing sensor to the Theater Event System (TES) and the Integrated Tactical Warning and Attack Assessment (ITW/AA) system that is currently positioned over the strategically-important INDOPACOM region. WFOV is also capability that acts as a capability pathfinder ahead of… Full year-by-year narrative: https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206442SF/657009/a3 ## What is NOT on this page Congressional marks, the R-2 mission description and acquisition strategy, the industry vs government split of the whole request, and related program elements are recorded at **program-element** grain — an NDAA mark lands on a PE, never on a project. They are at https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206442SF. ## Source & machine access - **Source:** FY2027 Department of the Air Force RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 1206442SF project 657009 (PB PB2027). - **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="1206442SF")`. *HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*