Nichols Martin
Ball Aerospace & Technologies has received a contract from the Defense Department to design a low-Earth orbit satellite system to support weather forecasting across maritime regions.
The company said Wednesday it will serve as prime contractor on the Weather System Follow-on – Microwave program and conduct risk reduction efforts for the LEO satellite.
WSF-M will be designed to feature a passive microwave imaging radiometer instrument and a hosted government-furnished energetic charged particle sensor meant to aid in atmospheric and aquatic surface measurement.
The contract has options for Ball Aerospace to develop and fabricate two LEO satellites as well as provide launch vehicle integration, launch and early orbit test, and operational test and evaluation support services.
The company noted it will base WSF-M on the Ball Configurable Platform and integrate the Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager technology into the spacecraft.
DoD intends for its next weather satellite to help address the department’s space-based environmental monitoring challenges.
