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Space Force Declares ATLAS Operational, Setting New Space Domain Awareness Baseline

Acceptance follows a trial that generated operational tracking data published to Space-Track.org.

ATLAS's deployment will facilitate the decommissioning of the SPADOC system, a space management tool. Credit: © L3Harris Technologies, Inc.
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Overview

  • The Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System is now in operational use, with lifecycle oversight by SFPEO BMC3I and day‑to‑day operations led by Space Operations Command’s Mission Delta 2.
  • ATLAS is intended to remove reliance on the decades‑old SPADOC system, though the service has not set a decommissioning timeline for the legacy capability.
  • Operators validated the software during a focused test and trial, producing catalog entries and using ATLAS on the operations floor to generate space object tracking data.
  • The program reached acceptance nearly three years later than an original late‑2022 target due to software integration challenges identified by Space Systems Command and L3Harris.
  • ATLAS is the first piece of the Space C2 modernization effort, with a $90 million L3Harris follow‑on for astrometric tools to expand capabilities after initial fielding.