{"id":22473,"date":"2018-02-01T21:09:22","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T21:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2018\/02\/01\/what-we-know-about-the-secret-silent-barker-space-program\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T17:52:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T17:52:28","slug":"what-we-know-about-the-secret-silent-barker-space-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2018\/02\/01\/what-we-know-about-the-secret-silent-barker-space-program\/","title":{"rendered":"What we know about the secret Silent Barker space program"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force plans to launch a new secret payload, known as Silent Barker, as a way to improve space situational awareness in 2022, according to a request for proposals released Jan. 31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gen. John W. Raymond, the head of Air Force Space Command, said in written testimony in May 2017 that Silent Barker is a \u201ccollaborative acquisition program\u201d between the National Reconnaissance Office and the Air Force. The program aims to improve <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/space\/2018\/01\/26\/foreign-governments-are-approaching-french-satellites-in-orbit-says-space-commander\/\">satellite threat intelligence <\/a>and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c4isrnet.com\/special-reports\/satcom\/2017\/03\/08\/why-does-dod-care-about-space-situational-awareness-one-word-deterrence\/\">space situational awareness<\/a>. Raymond was testifying before the House Armed Services Committee\u2019s strategic forces subcommittee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since then, in media roundtables, Air Force officials have declined to say much about the program. But in a formal solicitation released Jan. 31, the Air Force said it planned to launch the new capability in fiscal 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The program is also referred to as NROL-107 in the solicitation documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The DoD\u2019s tight-lipped posture was underscored this week by Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who stressed the importance of secrecy in the space domain in order to maintain a competitive advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have to be very disciplined about what we say regarding space,\u201d Selva said, according to a report in <a href=\"http:\/\/spacenews.com\/senior-military-official-space-secrets-becoming-harder-to-keep\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\">SpaceNews<\/a>. \u201cThere are things we should never talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"668\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/selva.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47693\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/selva.jpg.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/selva.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/selva.jpg.jpg?resize=768,513 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. Air Force Gen. Paul J. Selva, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks at a Defense Writers Group breakfast in Washington, D.C., Jan. 30, 2018. Gen. Selva stressed the value of secrecy in the space domain earlier this year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon has been warning that space is increasingly a war-fighting domain as adversaries begin to contest an arena once almost entirely dominated by the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn the not too distant future, near-peer competitors will have the ability to hold every U.S. space asset in every orbital regime at risk,\u201d Raymond said in his written testimony. \u201cWe need to embrace the fact that space is a war-fighting domain just like the air, land, cyberspace and maritime domains.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force plans to launch Silent Barker from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station or Kennedy Space Center in 2022. It is one of five launches the service revealed in a final request for proposal from industry for Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle launch services. The other launches include two mission for the NRO known as NROL-85 and NROL-87, the fifth satellite in the Air Force\u2019s missile warning constellation known as Space-Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (SBIRS GEO)-5, and Air Force Space Command-44.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The battle for the contracts will likely be a contest between United Launch Alliance, a joint venture from Lockheed Martin and Boeing, and SpaceX, the aerospace manufacturing company run by tech billionaire Elon Musk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis solicitation incorporates a tradeoff between past performance, performance and schedule sub-factors, and price to maintain a focus on mission success for these critical payloads,\u201d Lt. Gen. John Thompson, Space and Missile Systems Center commander, said in a release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force will award firm-fixed-price contracts that include launch vehicle production, mission integration, and launch operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Proposals are due April 16 with contracts expected to be awarded in late 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Air Force is formally searching for a launch vehicle for the secret space program known as Silent Barker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":47686,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":23,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[163,36,23],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1247],"class_list":["post-22473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-space-report","category-newsletters","category-space"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VYC24XXFEZHOFBLUZYOJNWSOX4","arc_canonical_url":"\/intel-geoint\/2018\/02\/01\/what-we-know-about-the-secret-silent-barker-space-program\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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