Jamie Bennet
KBR and Norway-based Kongsberg Satellite Services have partnered to develop ground communications infrastructure for a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration observatory designed to observe solar activity in space.
The two companies aim to create a network of terminals and an associated service the Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 mission the agency plans to launch in the mid-2020s, KSAT said Friday.
Houston-based KBR won a $51.2 million prime contract in April 2021 to field the SWFO Antenna Network and will collaborate with KSAT to implement an always-on communications platform at ground station sites in Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific.
The network will facilitate X-band telemetry service delivery to ensure observatory navigation and safety.
SWFO is part of NOAA’s series of space missions to monitor, forecast and provide advanced warning of solar events within the first point of the Earth-sun system.
