NOAA Space Weather Satellite Passes PDR
A preliminary design review (PDR) for the NOAA space weather satellite has been completed by Ball Aerospace. With PDR complete, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) spacecraft now moves into the critical design phase.
"Once on orbit, SWFO-L1 will provide the nation with critical space weather information to help protect life and property and we are excited to partner with NOAA and NASA Goddard on this important mission."
Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, vice president and general manager, Civil Space, Ball Aerospace.
The term “space weather” generally refers to conditions resulting from solar activity that can potentially affect Earth, our atmosphere, and the near-Earth space environment. Fortunately, our planet’s magnetic field helps protect us from the constant stream of charged particles emitted from the Sun, but occasional eruptions of radiation and matter can disrupt our power grids and communications systems, as well as impact satellite operations and GPS navigation capabilities. Astronauts operating outside our planet’s protective atmosphere have to be very careful of exposure to the extra radiation, which can cause a variety of health problems.
Ball was awarded the contract to design and build the SWFO-L1 NOAA space weather satellite on June 25, 2020 by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on behalf of NOAA. SWFO-L1 is an operational mission that will collect solar wind data and coronal imagery to meet NOAA's operational requirements to monitor and forecast solar storm activity. SWFO-L1 will be launched to an L1 orbit, which will allow for upstream solar wind measurements and continuous unobstructed observation of the sun's corona without interference from the Earth.
"Space weather events, such as solar flares, coronal mass ejections and other high-energy emissions from the sun, can endanger astronauts in space, interfere with satellites and damage communications and power grid infrastructure, causing significant economic impact," said Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, vice president and general manager, Civil Space, Ball Aerospace. "Once on orbit, SWFO-L1 will provide the nation with critical space weather information to help protect life and property and we are excited to partner with NOAA and NASA Goddard on this important mission."
The SWFO-L1 spacecraft is based on the Ball Configurable Platform (BCP), which is a customizable and proven spacecraft, designed for flexible, cost-effective applications, using a common spacecraft bus and standard payload interfaces to reduce cost, streamline payload accommodation and minimize delivery time. Ball has a heritage of building spacecraft for NOAA's operational weather missions, including NOAA-20 and the Suomi National Polar Orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP).
(Image provided with Ball Aerospace news release)