Nichols Martin
Ball Aerospace has concluded the preliminary design review of a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spacecraft meant to continuously observe the sun’s outermost atmospheric layer and measure upstream solar wind for data collection efforts.
The company said Thursday completing Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1‘s PDR allows the spacecraft to enter a critical design phase for further development.
Ball Aerospace based SWFO-L1 on the existing Ball Configurable Platform, a customizable spacecraft made to accommodate a variety of applications. BCP employs standard payload interfaces and a common spacecraft bus to simplify payload integration.
“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,” said Makenzie Lystrup, vice president and general manager for civil space at Ball Aerospace.
The company designed and tested the SWFO-L1 under a NOAA contract awarded on June 25, 2020.
The project follows the company’s previous works for the agency such as the Suomi National Polar Orbiting Partnership and the NOAA-20 satellite.
