The U.S. Defense Department on Monday announced two contracts worth $1.3 billion for the fielding of satellites to better detect hypersonic missile threats posed by Russia and China, with deployment to begin in April 2025. The satellites are designed to track not only missile launches but also hypersonic maneuvering vehicles. Historically, the United States has not flown such satellites, according to Derek Tournear, director of the Space Development Agency. “Primarily Russia and China have been developing and testing hypersonic glide vehicles — these advanced missiles that are extremely maneu…