The U,S Missile Defense Agency (MDA) tentatively plans to begin design work next year on an operational constellation of missile tracking satellites, development of which would cost $2.7 billion through 2011, according to agency officials and documents. The MDA is requesting $535,000 in 2006 for an operational Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS), according to agency budget justification documents sent to Congress in March. The documents indicate that funding for the effort, if approved, would rise dramatically in 2007, to $167 million, and reach $440 million the following year. Whether that funding actually would materialize is a big question mark, however.
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