Kratos wins $446 million Space Force contract for missile-tracking ground systems
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions has secured a $446 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to develop and operate ground systems supporting a new missile-tracking satellite constellation, the service’s Space Systems Command announced March 19, 2026. The award covers ground management and integration for the Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking (RMWT) program, which is building a medium Earth orbit layer designed to detect and track advanced missile threats. The contract marks a significant role for Kratos in expanding the Space Force’s layered missile-warning architecture as the Pentagon accelerates deployment of new space-based tracking capabilities.
Under the agreement, Kratos will build and operate the ground segment infrastructure responsible for command, control, data processing and integration across the missile-tracking constellation. The ground system will support the RMWT medium Earth orbit satellites, which are intended to complement existing missile-warning systems operating in geostationary and low Earth orbit. Space Systems Command said the work includes system integration, mission operations and data management functions necessary to enable persistent tracking of missile threats. The program forms part of the Space Force’s broader effort to deploy resilient, distributed architectures that improve survivability and data flow across multiple orbital layers.
The contract reflects growing investment in space-based missile tracking as the U.S. military pursues multi-layer sensing architectures capable of detecting hypersonic and advanced missile threats. The Resilient Missile Warning and Tracking initiative is designed to integrate sensors and ground systems across different orbital regimes, increasing coverage and redundancy compared with legacy architectures. Kratos’ selection highlights the expanding role of commercial providers in building ground infrastructure for next-generation national security space programs, as the Space Force continues to accelerate deployment of new missile-warning capabilities.
