Louisville-based , maker of the Dream Chaser, is the latest Colorado company to land work on the nation’s .
Space Systems was selected by Rochester, N.Y.-based Exelis Geospatial Systems to develop and build a piece for an instrument, scheduled to fly on the Joint Polar Satellite System-2, or JPSS-2, that will help measure sunlight reflected from the Earth and other thermal radiation.
The work will be done at Space Systems’ Louisville headquarters and in Durham, N.C. JPSS-2 is expected to launch late in 2021.
The JPSS satellites are a joint NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration project designed to replace the weather satellites, including , which was built by Boulder-based Ball Aerospace and launched in 2011.
The data collected by the JPSS satellites will help scientists study climate change and provide accurate forecasting — something currently at risk.
A January report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that Suomi NPP should reach the end of its expected five-year life span in October 2016.
JPSS-1, which is being built by about 100 Boulder-based employees, is not scheduled to launch until 2017.
Any delays to JPSS-1, or an early demise of Suomi NPP, when hurricanes, tornadoes and other disasters hit.
The contract for JPSS-2, worth up to $470 million, was awarded to Orbital ATK on March 24. Ball Aerospace, which also bid on the contract, on April 7 filed a bid protest with the GAO.
The was created by Congress to give businesses the ability to protest without filing a full legal claim in federal court.
The GAO will announce its decision on or before July 16.
Laura Keeney: 303-954-1337, lkeeney@denverpost.com or twitter.com/LauraKeeney
