House Armed Services Committee Challenges Space Force on Satellite Programs
The House Armed Services Committee has moved to preserve a missile-warning satellite program that the Pentagon plans to cancel. The committee authorized $415 million for the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared Polar program in the fiscal 2027 defense policy bill. This program, developed by Northrop Grumman since 2018, is designed to provide missile-warning coverage over the Northern Hemisphere, particularly the polar regions. The Pentagon's budget for fiscal 2027 proposed terminating the program, citing newer missile-warning architectures in low and medium Earth orbits as sufficient. However, the committee views the program as critical, especially given the capabilities demonstrated by China and Russia to degrade U.S. space assets. Additionally, the committee raised concerns about the Space Force's procurement of only two satellites for the Protected Tactical SATCOM-Global program, which was initially intended to be a proliferated architecture. 
