L3Harris Technologies, a massive defense contractor with offices in Colorado Springs and around the world, hs been awarded a $62.7 million contract modification to keep the nation’s space surveillance system up and running.

The system is part of how the Space Force detects, tracks, catalogs and shares information on the tens of thousands of objects orbiting Earth. It tracks everything from asteroids to weather satellites.

The modification awarded to L3Harris is part of what the Space Force calls the Maintenance of Space Situational Awareness Integrated Capabilities (MOSSAIC) program. L3Harris originally won the contract in 2020 as a 10-year, $1.2 billion commitment.

Now with the year seven extension, the contract is worth $1.5 billion, according to the Department of Defense.

“MOSSAIC enables U.S. military space surveillance and command centers in Colorado, California and Virginia to detect, track and identify deep space objects, providing timely and accurate space surveillance intelligence to military, civil, and commercial users,” it added.

Colorado Springs is a statewide hub of aerospace and defense business activity. The Space Force and Army have a significant presence in the city.

L3Harris employees working at its Colorado Springs offices will be responsible for completing the work on MOSSAIC, the Department of Defense post said. L3Harris has had a presence in the city for more than 40 years, continuing the work done locally by the Harris Corp. and L3 Technologies.

The two companies merged in 2019.

“Our Colorado Springs facility delivers comprehensive space control and space situational awareness capabilities to the U.S. government, supporting efforts to achieve, maintain and leverage space superiority,” an L3Harris spokesperson said.