{"id":38932,"date":"2016-10-26T00:06:14","date_gmt":"2016-10-25T16:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-green-lights-key-phase-for-landsat-9s-development\/"},"modified":"2016-10-26T00:06:14","modified_gmt":"2016-10-25T16:06:14","slug":"nasa-green-lights-key-phase-for-landsat-9s-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-green-lights-key-phase-for-landsat-9s-development\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA green lights key phase for Landsat-9\u2019s development"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA has contracted Orbital ATK via a \u201cdelivery order under the Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition III (Rapid III)\u201d contract for construction of the Landsat 9 spacecraft. The latest spacecraft in the Landsat series, which began operations in 1972, is expected to be launched by an Atlas V from Vandenberg in late 2020.<\/p>\n

Landsat-9:<\/p>\n

This latest spacecraft will follow the 2013 launch of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), which was successfully lofted by the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V out of Space Launch Complex 3E (SLC-3E).<\/p>\n

Landsat 8, after collecting data for 3.5 years, has already added over 827,000 images to the archive. This represents 12.5 percent of the entire 44-year Landsat data collection and each day Landsat 8 adds another ~700 new scenes.<\/p>\n

\"2016-10-25-224751\"That satellite was also constructed by Orbital ATK, which earns a $129.9 million contract to design and fabricate the new spacecraft, integrate the mission\u2019s two government-furnished instruments, and conduct satellite-level testing, in-orbit satellite checkout, and mission operations support.<\/p>\n

The two NASA science instruments are OLI-2 and TIRS-2. OLI-2 is being constructed by Ball Aerospace & Technology Corp, while TIRS-2 is being developed by NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center.<\/p>\n

OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager) will continue observations in the visible, near infrared, and shortwave infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum and includes two new spectral bands, one of which is designed to support monitoring of coastal waters and the other to detect previously hard to see cirrus clouds that can otherwise unknowingly impact the signal from the Earth\u2019s surface in the other spectral bands.<\/p>\n

TIRS-2 (Thermal Infrared Sensor) will collect data in two thermal bands and will thus be able to measure the temperature of the Earth\u2019s surface, a measurement that\u2019s vital to monitoring water consumption, especially in the arid western United States.<\/p>\n

\"2016-10-26-001056\"Landsat 9 is based on the company\u2019s LEOStar-3 platform, the medium-class low-Earth-orbit spacecraft successfully flown on Landsat 8 and NASA\u2019s Fermi and Swift Gamma-ray astrophysics observatories.<\/p>\n

Astronomy<\/path>NASA mission patches<\/path>Aerospace & Defense<\/path>\n

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This is also the platform under contract for the upcoming ICESat-2 Earth science satellite and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-2 spacecraft. Landsat 9 will be designed, manufactured and tested by Orbital ATK\u2019s Space Systems Group at its facilities in Gilbert, Arizona, the same location and production team that executed the Landsat 8 program.<\/p>\n

The work on Landsat-9 will be performed at the contractor\u2019s facilities and at the launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.<\/p>\n

Orbital ATK was also responsible for the successful Landsat 4 and Landsat 5 satellites launched in 1982 and 1984.<\/p>\n

See Also<\/h4>\n