Raytheon Co. will develop a quick-reaction space optical payload with the potential to spot hidden targets under a U.S. Air Force Contract, Raytheon announced.

The ARTEMIS (Advanced Responsive Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer) program calls for Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems to design and build a hyper- spectral imaging sensor within 15 months as part of a rapid development experiment. The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicle Directorate awarded the $14 million contract.

“The intent of the program is to help demonstrate the feasibility of the responsive space concept,” Dave Shingledecker, Raytheon’s vice president for Strategic Systems, said in a statement. “Satellites would be launched on demand when needed, versus the current practice of maintaining an expensive fleet of long-life satellites in orbit.”

Raytheon plans to employ commercial-off-the-shelf components and industry standard interfaces extensively in developing the system.