Raytheon UK has entered into an agreement to acquire Northern Space and Security (NORSS), a UK-based specialist in space domain awareness, orbital analysis, space surveillance and tracking.
NORSS is also focused on developing the skills and experience required by orbital analysts to ensure sustainability of the benefits from space.
Ray Azevedo, president of Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RI&S) who announced the acquisition said that “NORSS’ culture will align with ours at Raytheon UK, RS&I and Raytheon Technologies as a whole.”
NORSS already provides orbital analysis services to the UK Space Agency and is also contracted to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) to develop a simulator system for developing and testing future military satellite systems and constellations.
Raytheon’s Azevedo said that “since 2020 we have invested more that $1 billion in small satellites, space qualified electronics, AI/ML, advanced optics, constellation management and onboard processing – technologies that will help us define the future of space.”
“We (also) have missile warning and tracking payloads in development for MEO, GEO and LEO orbits,” he added.
According to Raytheon UK the congestion of space is set to dramatically increase as tens of thousands of satellites are due to be launched in the next five years.
An earlier comment from Ralph “Dinz” Dinsley, the executive director of NORSS, stated: “As part of Raytheon Intelligence & Space, we will have expanded access to international markets, continued investments in research and development, and opportunities to collaborate on the next generation of space technologies.”
by Andrew Drwiega
