# Project MD42 — Hypersonic & Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) Prototyping

**Program element:** 1206895C — Ballistic Missile Defense System Space Programs  
**Project:** MD42  
**Component:** Defense-Wide  
**Appropriation:** 0400 — RDT&E, Defense-Wide  
**Budget Activity:** 4 — Advanced Component Development & Prototypes  
**Vintage:** President's Budget PB2027  
**Canonical URL:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206895C/MD42  
**Parent:** https://hitchintel.com/programs/1206895C

## Summary

Project MD42 — Hypersonic & Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) Prototyping requests $0.0M in FY2027, 0.0% of the $95.8M requested for program element 1206895C, down 100% on FY2026. 1 R-2A activity decomposes the request.

**Markets:** Hypersonic Strike — matched on the project title only, and no market size is quoted.

## Funding profile

| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 72.3 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 31.7 |
| FY2027 | Request | 0.0 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 0.0 |

> Estimate types are not summed. This project is one leaf of PE 1206895C; the PE total is the sum of its projects, never added to them.

## What project MD42 buys

HBTSS will demonstrate a resilient, flexible, and global capability to detect and track hypersonic missiles and detect and track ballistic missiles in the boost phase of flight. The fire-control quality tracking data will allow long range engagement of the threat while enhanced tracking accuracy through missile burn out will provide the Warfighting community increased capability in missile defense weapons systems engagement and higher accuracy impact predictions. The HBTSS prototype demonstration's priority is to maintain the pace of the development schedule given the urgent Warfighter need to address rapidly developing threats. To meet this priority, HBTSS must use high technology readiness level components, take advantage of existing government capabilities to minimize development, use a management culture that does not slow down the pace of development, and use the Other Transaction Authority (OTA) to minimize contracting cycle times. OTAs allow the government to work with traditional, non-traditional, and new space businesses to identify and implement innovative solutions. The HBTSS prototype demonstration seeks to demonstrate the ability to meet requirements derived from United States Strategic Command Prioritized Capabilities List, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, and the Joint Requirements Oversight Council Capability Development Document for Missile Warning (MW)/Missile Defense (MD) Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR). The HBTSS developed target detection algorithms and evaluated them in a Signal-chain Processing Demonstration, providing insight into the constellation architecture, communications approach, and preliminary command and control design aspects. These results informed the development of the HBTSS prototype demonstration Space Vehicles (SVs) and demonstrated the ability to detect and track dim targets in a cluttered background along with the sensitivity necessary to support the hypersonic kill chain. Operationally, the HBTSS fire-control capability will be part of Space Development Agency's Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture and will detect hypersonic, ballistic, and other advanced threats much sooner than terrestrial radars, providing hypersonic threat-tracking data for hand off through linked missile defense weapons.

**R-3 lines of work:** Product Development; Support; Management Services.

## Activities (R-2A) — 1

| Activity | FY2025 | FY2026 | FY2027 | Move | Page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) | 72.3 | 31.7 | 0.0 | −100% | — |

> 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.

### Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS)

**FY2027 planned work.** No funding is requested in FY 2027.

**FY2026 to FY2027 change.** Decrease from FY 2026 to FY 2027 reflects completing satellite disposition for HBTSS.

**FY2026 plans — current year.** - Satellite disposition

## 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/1206895C.

## Source & machine access

- **Source:** FY2027 Office of the Secretary of Defense RDT&E Budget Justification, Exhibits R-2/R-2A/R-3, PE 1206895C project MD42 (PB PB2027).
- **MCP:** `mcp.hitchintel.com` — `budget_get_program_element(pe="1206895C")`.

*HitchAI is an independent intelligence service, not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense. Budget figures are requests/estimates, not obligations.*