Jane Edwards
Orbital ATK has completed the spacecraft preliminary design review for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s three Joint Polar Satellite Systems.
The company collaborated with representatives from NOAA and NASA to subject JPSS-2, JPSS-3 and JPSS-4 to the four-day PDR that kicked off Aug. 29 at Orbital ATK’s Gilbert, Arizona-based facility, Orbital ATK said Monday.
The three satellites are based on Orbital ATK’s LEOStar-3 platform and are designed to carry instruments that will work to provide space-based weather observations for NOAA.
Steve Krein, vice president of science and environmental programs at Orbital ATK, said the conclusion of the PDR phase will help facilitate the critical design review process for the JPSS-2 satellite.
Orbital ATK said it is scheduled to conduct the CDR phase for JPSS-2 in the second quarter of 2017 and expects to deliver the satellite to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California by 2020 for its scheduled launch.
The JPSS-2 satellite will work to collect global atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial data to help NOAA generate public weather forecasts as well as assess floods, sea ice, wildfires and other environmental hazards.
