KBR has been awarded a substantial $176 million contract to maintain and modernize the Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing Site (AMOS). This high-altitude facility is a key component of the U.S. military’s space surveillance network. The contract, announced February 20th, resulted from a competitive procurement process managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
This seven-year agreement encompasses operations, equipment maintenance, and vital upgrades to existing space sensors. According to AFRL, two bids were submitted for the contract. Located at a 10,000-foot elevation on the island of Maui, AMOS has a long history in military space tracking, dating back to the Cold War. Originally established in the 1950s to monitor missile tests, it has evolved into a cornerstone of the Pentagon’s space surveillance infrastructure.
Currently, AMOS houses sophisticated telescopes used for monitoring satellites, space debris, and potential adversarial threats in orbit. It is jointly operated by the Air Force Research Laboratory and the U.S. Space Force’s 15th Space Surveillance Squadron. AMOS forms part of the Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) system, a network providing crucial data on deep space objects. KBR, a Houston-based contractor with approximately $7 billion in annual revenue, strengthened its space sector presence with its 2020 acquisition of Centauri, an $800 million deal that added expertise in space sensors and satellite tracking.