JPSS-2 begins launch processing

Preparations are wanting up for the launch of the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite tv for pc System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite. On behalf of NOAA, NASA develops and builds the devices, spacecraft, and floor system, and launches the satellites, which NOAA operates. Technicians not too long ago lifted the satellite to a stand contained in the Astrotech House Operations facility at Vandenberg House Pressure Base in California. On board are 4 superior devices that can measure climate and local weather situations on Earth. Launch is focused for Nov. 1 atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 rocket from House Launch Advanced-3.

Launching with JPSS-2 is a secondary payload, often called Low-Earth Orbit Flight Check of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID. LOFTID will reveal inflatable warmth defend expertise for atmospheric entry and re-entry. This expertise might allow a wide range of proposed NASA missions to locations akin to Mars, Venus, and Titan, in addition to returning heavier payloads from low-Earth orbit.

Earlier than launch, technicians will stack the JPSS-2 satellite onto a payload adapter canister containing the LOFTID reentry car. As soon as full, the meeting might be encapsulated in a protecting payload fairing. After encapsulation, the group will transport the encapsulated spacecraft to House Launch Advanced-3 the place a crane will hoist it up for attachment to the second stage of the Atlas V 401 rocket.

JPSS-2 is the third satellite within the Joint Polar Satellite tv for pc System collection. JPSS-2, which might be renamed NOAA-21 after reaching orbit, will be a part of a constellation of JPSS satellites that orbit from the North to the South pole, circling Earth 14 instances a day and offering a full view of all the globe twice day by day. The NOAA/NASA Suomi Nationwide Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite, and NOAA-20, beforehand often called JPSS-1, are each already in orbit.

NASA’s Launch Companies Program, based mostly on the company’s Kennedy House Middle in Florida, is managing the launch service. Stay protection of the launch will air on NASA Tv, the NASA app, and company’s web site.