Raytheon Intelligence & Space

Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RI&S) was a business segment of Raytheon Technologies (now RTX Corporation) formed in April 2020 following the Raytheon Company and United Technologies Corporation merger, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, developing advanced satellite payloads, sensors, and space systems for US government defense and intelligence customers — before being consolidated into a unified Raytheon segment in 2023.

RI&S developed several of the most critical US space-based defense systems. The company served as prime contractor or major subcontractor for the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) missile warning satellites — geosynchronous and highly elliptical orbit satellites providing strategic ICBM launch detection — and the follow-on Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) program. RI&S also produced GPS satellite navigation payloads, contributed to Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) jam-resistant military communications satellites, and developed Space Domain Awareness (SDA) ground and space sensors for tracking objects in Earth orbit.

Beyond space programs, RI&S developed airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) sensors including the SYERS-2 electro-optical system, electronic warfare systems, cybersecurity capabilities, and C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence) infrastructure. In 2023, RTX reorganized its business structure, collapsing RI&S into a consolidated Raytheon segment alongside Raytheon Missiles & Defense — ending RI&S as a distinct business unit while preserving its space programs within the broader Raytheon portfolio. RTX competes with Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin for US government space sensor and satellite payload contracts.