Engineers and technologists at Sandia National Laboratories prepare sensors for the next generation of detectors as part of thermal vacuum testing. Photo: National Nuclear Security Administration

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has delivered its fifth next-generation Global Burst Detector (GBD) sensor payload to the Space Force to monitor nuclear detonations above-ground globally. The payload will be integrated onto a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite before launch, where it will join an existing constellation of sensors that continuously monitor the globe for above-ground nuclear explosions. Orbiting approximately 12,550 miles above Earth aboard GPS satellites, the sensors support the U.S. Nuclear Detonation Detection System, a mission that…