Abstract: To study the detection ability of infrared early warning satellite for ballistic missile in boost phase in the background of anti-missile operation, driven by the operational requirements, the tactical, technical and performance indices association structure of detection ability was built. The tactical and performance indices were interconnected by the technical indices, and furthermore, some key technical indices models were built including Field of View(FOV), revisit time, detection probability, false alarm rate, Signal to Noise Ratio(SNR) and maximum operating range. The tactical, technical and performance indices association and its effect on detection ability were analyzed. Based on the typical radiation characteristics of target and background and the atmospheric transmittance, simulation examples showed the impacts and rules of different performance indices combination on maximum operating range and early warning time. The work can provide reference for evaluating anti-missile operation effectiveness and designing optimum satellite-borne infrared detection system.