Christine Thropp
Ball Aerospace has passed the critical design review for a space weather monitoring satellite it is developing to support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s mission objectives.
The company said Tuesday completing the CDR for NOAA’s Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 spacecraft meant it can now move to production, integration and test phases.
SWFO-L1 is planned for collection of solar wind data and coronal imagery needed for the agency’s requirements for monitoring and forecasting solar storm activity impacts. It is expected to be launched in 2025.
Ball received a $96.9M delivery order from NASA for the SWFO-L1 design and production work in 2020. It was awarded using the space agency’s Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition III contract.
“SWFO will be an important tool in NOAA’s mission to monitor space weather, provide timely and accurate warnings, and help minimize the impact of these events on our infrastructure and economy,” said Makenzie Lystrup, vice president and general manager of civil space at Ball.
