Author Topic: NASA Awards Orbital ATK NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System-2 Spacecraft  (Read 23900 times)

Online Chris Bergin


March 23, 2015
NASA Awards Contract for NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System-2 Spacecraft

NASA has awarded a delivery order under the Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition III (Rapid III) contract to Orbital ATK (formerly Orbital Sciences Corporation) of Dulles, Virginia, for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-2 spacecraft.

The JPSS-2 spacecraft will provide operational continuity of satellite-based observations to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide critical weather forecasts, while advancing climate, environmental and oceanographic science.  This is a firm fixed-price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity delivery order for the purchase of the JPSS-2 spacecraft with options to purchase the JPSS-3 and JPSS-4 spacecraft.

The JPSS missions continue to leverage the successful 40-year NOAA/NASA partnership.  NASA is the acquisition agent for the flight systems, launch services and components of the ground system.

The value of the JPSS-2 portion is $253 million with a period of performance from March 30 through July 31, 2020. The value of Option One for the JPSS-3 spacecraft is $130 million and will extend the period of performance through July 31, 2024. The value of Option Two for the JPSS-4 spacecraft is $87 million and will extend the period of performance through July 31, 2028. If all options are exercised, the total value of this delivery order will be $470 million.

These options, as part of full funding of the Polar Follow-on activities outlined in NOAA’s fiscal year 2016 President’s Budget Request, would allow the JPSS program to extend operations of the overall JPSS polar-orbiting satellite system as far as fiscal year 2038.

Orbital will be responsible for designing and fabricating the JPSS-2 spacecraft, integration of government-furnished instruments, satellite-level testing, on-orbit satellite check-out and mission operations support. The contractor also will provide five Flight Segment Emulators. The work will be performed at the contractor’s facility and at the launch site.

This contract provides a rapid and flexible means to procure spacecraft in support of the scientific and technology development goals of NASA and other federal government agencies.

NASA’s expertise in space and scientific exploration contributes to essential services provided to the American people by other federal agencies, such as weather forecasting and natural resource management. NASA uses the vantage point of space to increase our understanding of our home planet, improve lives, and safeguard our future.

For information about the JPSS program, visit:

http://jpss.noaa.gov

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

-end-
Support NSF via L2 -- Help improve NSF -- Site Rules/Feedback/Updates
**Not a L2 member? Whitelist this forum in your adblocker to support the site and ensure full functionality.**

Offline arachnitect

  • Member
  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1553
  • Liked: 501
  • Likes Given: 759
Big win for OrbATK considering predecessors Suomi NPP and JPSS-1 were/are built by Ball Aerospace.

Offline MattMason

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1062
  • Space Enthusiast
  • Indiana
  • Liked: 772
  • Likes Given: 2016
While more than a few of us still have that flight in our minds, we've got to give a congratulations to Orbital ATK. They built the Dawn spacecraft that's now orbiting the former-asteroid made of diamond or silica or something, and have a few IridiumNEXT sats ready for several Falcon 9s to hurl into orbit.

The systems/satellite integration guys such as SNC and Orbital never seem to get the best press but they're often the ones that generate the payloads that make the news long after the flashy rockets have done their job.
"Why is the logo on the side of a rocket so important?"
"So you can find the pieces." -Jim, the Steely Eyed

Online jacqmans

  • Moderator
  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 21709
  • Houten, The Netherlands
  • Liked: 8562
  • Likes Given: 320
Orbital ATK Selected to Build Next U.S. Civilian Weather Satellites

JPSS Spacecraft for NOAA/NASA to Provide Critical Weather
Up to Three Satellites to Be Delivered Under $470 Million Contract


(Dulles, Virginia 24 March 2015) – Orbital ATK, Inc. (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced that it has been awarded a contract by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to design, produce and integrate up to three Joint Polar Satellite Systems (JPSS) spacecraft, to be operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide critical weather forecasting data and to advance environmental and oceanographic science. The contract includes a firm order for the first satellite, referred to as JPSS-2, valued at $253 million and options for two additional satellites, JPSS-3 and -4, valued at $217 million.

The JPSS-2 satellite will provide operational continuity of space-based weather observations, extending the successful 40-year NOAA/NASA partnership into the 2020 and 2030 decades. Under the new contract, Orbital will design and fabricate the JPSS spacecraft, integrate government-furnished instruments, conduct satellite-level testing, and support in-orbit check-out and mission operations. The JPSS-2 satellite will be delivered in 2020, while JPSS-3 and JPSS-4 will be delivered in 2024 and 2028, respectively, if NASA exercises those options. Each JPSS satellite will have a design life of at least seven years once it is launched into orbit.

“Orbital ATK is honored to be selected by NASA to produce the United States’ next polar-orbiting weather satellites,” said Mr. David W. Thompson, President and Chief Executive Officer. The critical data provided by these satellites will allow NOAA to continue its 50-plus year mission to protect lives and property from severe weather events and to enhance economic prosperity across a wide range of industries,” he added.

The JPSS satellites will be built on the company’s LEOStar-3 platform, a medium-class low-altitude-orbit spacecraft that is used for NASA’s Fermi and Swift gamma-ray astrophysics satellites and its Landsat-8 and ICESat-2 Earth science satellites as well as for commercial imaging and defense missions. The JPSS satellites will be designed, manufactured and tested by Orbital ATK’s Space Systems Group at its facilities in Gilbert, Arizona. 

http://www.orbitalatk.com/News-Room/release.asp?prid=20
Jacques :-)

Offline Robotbeat

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 39270
  • Minnesota
  • Liked: 25240
  • Likes Given: 12115
Very cool, congratulations to Orbital! What, roughly, is the mass of these spacecraft expected to be?

I hate to be the one to ask, but what will this launch on?

I suppose that may not be knowable for the later birds, but the first one is in 2020, just 5 years. Likely still a little too far out to definitively select a launch vehicle.
« Last Edit: 03/24/2015 11:21 pm by Robotbeat »
Chris  Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

To the maximum extent practicable, the Federal Government shall plan missions to accommodate the space transportation services capabilities of United States commercial providers. US law http://goo.gl/YZYNt0

Offline arachnitect

  • Member
  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1553
  • Liked: 501
  • Likes Given: 759
Very cool, congratulations to Orbital! What, roughly, is the mass of these spacecraft expected to be?

I hate to be the one to ask, but what will this launch on?

I suppose that may not be knowable for the later birds, but the first one is in 2020, just 5 years. Likely still a little too far out to definitively select a launch vehicle.

The Ball Aerospace JPSS' were ~2500kg. OrbATK is probably similar. Orbit is 830km SSO.

LV will probably be F9.

Delta II will be gone.
A proposed Athena variant could fly it (2cS-6 with DM OAM)
Antares 231 (maybe even 221) has the performance, but I doubt they can win. Flying polar out of WFF is iffy.
Atlas V could do it easily, but $$$.

Offline Robotbeat

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 39270
  • Minnesota
  • Liked: 25240
  • Likes Given: 12115
Orbital is responsible for securing a launch, right?
« Last Edit: 03/25/2015 12:06 am by Robotbeat »
Chris  Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

To the maximum extent practicable, the Federal Government shall plan missions to accommodate the space transportation services capabilities of United States commercial providers. US law http://goo.gl/YZYNt0

Offline russianhalo117

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8755
  • Liked: 4672
  • Likes Given: 768
Very cool, congratulations to Orbital! What, roughly, is the mass of these spacecraft expected to be?

I hate to be the one to ask, but what will this launch on?

I suppose that may not be knowable for the later birds, but the first one is in 2020, just 5 years. Likely still a little too far out to definitively select a launch vehicle.
JPSS-1 of Ball Aerospace's doing is on a ULA DII like its predecessor. LEOStar-3 depending on its build config may push the need for a larger fairing thus in that case the DII would be out. However if an IceSat-II build config was followed it would be capable of a flying on any US DII 7920 class launcher which brings Minotaur and Antares family's into play for the SC manufacturer which Orbital ATK. Currently Flown LEOStar-3 masses range from 817 to 4,288kgs. LEOStar-3 mass would likely be in the upper range. I remember reading somewhere that Leo-Star mass can go as high as about 6,800kgs given current launcher capabilities. If they add more and next generation sensors we may see an FH class launcher brought into play

Offline russianhalo117

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8755
  • Liked: 4672
  • Likes Given: 768
Orbital is responsible for securing a launch, right?
AFAIK, it's the NASA LSP. There are also some cases where that is not the case.
« Last Edit: 03/25/2015 09:07 pm by russianhalo117 »

Offline russianhalo117

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8755
  • Liked: 4672
  • Likes Given: 768
This is the last updated user Guide for NASA Missions on the Athena Missile Launch System.
Some please find the latest one and reply with the file or link.

Offline Jim

  • Night Gator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 37440
  • Cape Canaveral Spaceport
  • Liked: 21450
  • Likes Given: 428
Orbital is responsible for securing a launch, right?

No, NASA LSP is

Offline arachnitect

  • Member
  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1553
  • Liked: 501
  • Likes Given: 759
This is the last updated user Guide for NASA Missions on the Athena Missile Launch System.
Some please find the latest one and reply with the file or link.

I doubt the necessary Athena upgrades are in any NASA user guide.

Probably the most comprehensive information on IIcS available:

http://www.sprsa.org/sites/default/files/conference-presentation/Athena%20Launch%20Vehicle%20Family-Kehrl_PR.pdf

Offline edkyle99

  • Expert
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15391
    • Space Launch Report
  • Liked: 8565
  • Likes Given: 1356
Very cool, congratulations to Orbital! What, roughly, is the mass of these spacecraft expected to be?

I hate to be the one to ask, but what will this launch on?

I suppose that may not be knowable for the later birds, but the first one is in 2020, just 5 years. Likely still a little too far out to definitively select a launch vehicle.

The Ball Aerospace JPSS' were ~2500kg. OrbATK is probably similar. Orbit is 830km SSO.

LV will probably be F9.

Delta II will be gone.
A proposed Athena variant could fly it (2cS-6 with DM OAM)
Antares 231 (maybe even 221) has the performance, but I doubt they can win. Flying polar out of WFF is iffy.
Atlas V could do it easily, but $$$.
This is where a "Falcon 2" would come in handy.

 - Ed Kyle

Offline arachnitect

  • Member
  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1553
  • Liked: 501
  • Likes Given: 759
Very cool, congratulations to Orbital! What, roughly, is the mass of these spacecraft expected to be?

I hate to be the one to ask, but what will this launch on?

I suppose that may not be knowable for the later birds, but the first one is in 2020, just 5 years. Likely still a little too far out to definitively select a launch vehicle.

The Ball Aerospace JPSS' were ~2500kg. OrbATK is probably similar. Orbit is 830km SSO.

LV will probably be F9.

Delta II will be gone.
A proposed Athena variant could fly it (2cS-6 with DM OAM)
Antares 231 (maybe even 221) has the performance, but I doubt they can win. Flying polar out of WFF is iffy.
Atlas V could do it easily, but $$$.
This is where a "Falcon 2" would come in handy.

 - Ed Kyle

Not sure I understand exactly, "Falcon 2?"

Offline edkyle99

  • Expert
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 15391
    • Space Launch Report
  • Liked: 8565
  • Likes Given: 1356
This is where a "Falcon 2" would come in handy.

 - Ed Kyle

Not sure I understand exactly, "Falcon 2?"
A hypothetical smaller, hopefully cheaper, rocket that could do today's version of what Atlas E and Titan 23G once did.  One idea would be a two x Merlin 1D first stage and a 2 x Kestrel second stage - a rocket that would weigh about the same as an old Atlas E at liftoff.  I figure up to 2.5 tonnes to sun synchronous orbit could be possible.

 - Ed Kyle
« Last Edit: 03/27/2015 04:42 pm by edkyle99 »

Offline arachnitect

  • Member
  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1553
  • Liked: 501
  • Likes Given: 759
This is where a "Falcon 2" would come in handy.

 - Ed Kyle

Not sure I understand exactly, "Falcon 2?"
A hypothetical smaller, hopefully cheaper, rocket that could do today's version of what Atlas E and Titan 23G once did.  One idea would be a two x Merlin 1D first stage and a 2 x Kestrel second stage - a rocket that would weigh about the same as an old Atlas E at liftoff.  I figure up to 2.5 tonnes to sun synchronous orbit could be possible.

 - Ed Kyle

That seems really ambitious for a 2x Merlin 1D rocket.

Meanwhile looking at Antares again, west coast launch site would be nice, but what they really need is a restartable upper stage. I wonder if they could fly their transfer stage on an ISS mission to get flight experience

Online gongora

  • Global Moderator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10205
  • US
  • Liked: 13885
  • Likes Given: 5933
Very cool, congratulations to Orbital! What, roughly, is the mass of these spacecraft expected to be?

I hate to be the one to ask, but what will this launch on?

I suppose that may not be knowable for the later birds, but the first one is in 2020, just 5 years. Likely still a little too far out to definitively select a launch vehicle.

The Ball Aerospace JPSS' were ~2500kg. OrbATK is probably similar. Orbit is 830km SSO.

LV will probably be F9.

Delta II will be gone.
A proposed Athena variant could fly it (2cS-6 with DM OAM)
Antares 231 (maybe even 221) has the performance, but I doubt they can win. Flying polar out of WFF is iffy.
Atlas V could do it easily, but $$$.
This is where a "Falcon 2" would come in handy.

 - Ed Kyle

SpaceX has a rocket for this size class, F9R, it's just not quite ready yet.

Offline Robotbeat

  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 39270
  • Minnesota
  • Liked: 25240
  • Likes Given: 12115
Very cool, congratulations to Orbital! What, roughly, is the mass of these spacecraft expected to be?

I hate to be the one to ask, but what will this launch on?

I suppose that may not be knowable for the later birds, but the first one is in 2020, just 5 years. Likely still a little too far out to definitively select a launch vehicle.

The Ball Aerospace JPSS' were ~2500kg. OrbATK is probably similar. Orbit is 830km SSO.

LV will probably be F9.

Delta II will be gone.
A proposed Athena variant could fly it (2cS-6 with DM OAM)
Antares 231 (maybe even 221) has the performance, but I doubt they can win. Flying polar out of WFF is iffy.
Atlas V could do it easily, but $$$.
This is where a "Falcon 2" would come in handy.

 - Ed Kyle

SpaceX has a rocket for this size class, F9R, it's just not quite ready yet.
It will by 2020, when this thing launches.


...But dang it, I knew this would happen. We're talking about SpaceX on a thread that really isn't about SpaceX.

I just wanted to know if the launch vehicle has been decided yet and who was responsible for providing launch. Sounds like those questions have been answered, so let's get back on track.
Chris  Whoever loves correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.

To the maximum extent practicable, the Federal Government shall plan missions to accommodate the space transportation services capabilities of United States commercial providers. US law http://goo.gl/YZYNt0

Offline Tomness

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 660
  • Into the abyss will I run
  • Liked: 289
  • Likes Given: 737


The Ball Aerospace JPSS' were ~2500kg. OrbATK is probably similar. Orbit is 830km SSO.

LV will probably be F9.

Delta II will be gone.
A proposed Athena variant could fly it (2cS-6 with DM OAM)
Antares 231 (maybe even 221) has the performance, but I doubt they can win. Flying polar out of WFF is iffy.
Atlas V could do it easily, but $$$.
This is where a "Falcon 2" would come in handy.

 - Ed Kyle

I wonder if Orbital ATK could pay SpaceX for launch infrastructure & logistics & fly Antares from  Vandenberg AFB, SLC - 4 ?

Offline Jim

  • Night Gator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 37440
  • Cape Canaveral Spaceport
  • Liked: 21450
  • Likes Given: 428
No, that is not  feasible.  There is little benefit to Orbital
« Last Edit: 03/28/2015 05:55 pm by Jim »

Tags:
 

Advertisement NovaTech
Advertisement Northrop Grumman
Advertisement
Advertisement Margaritaville Beach Resort South Padre Island
Advertisement Brady Kenniston
Advertisement NextSpaceflight
Advertisement Nathan Barker Photography
1