The nation’s next polar-orbiting environmental satellite is one step closer to launch.
Boulder-based Ball Aerospace powered on the (JPSS-1) satellite for the first time this week.
Powering on is a key milestone in the spacecraft’s development and “provides insight into how the satellite will perform on orbit,” said Cary Ludtke, Ball’s civil and operational space vice president.
The satellite “performed within specifications,” according to Ball.
The JPSS satellites are a joint NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration project designed to replace the aging fleet of NASA Earth Observing System weather satellites, including Suomi NPP, built by 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 is not scheduled to launch until 2017.
Any delays to JPSS-1 — or the early demise of Suomi NPP — could .
At the project’s peak, about 200 Ball Aerospace employees worked on both the satellite and its Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite instrument.
That number has since dipped to about 125, Ball spokeswoman Roz Brown said.
Englewood-based SEAKR Engineering and Louisville’s Sierra Nevada Space Systems are both subcontractors on the project.
The JPSS-1 contract is valued at about $300 million, Brown said.
The contract for JPSS-2, worth up to $470 million, was awarded to Orbital ATK on March 24. In May, Sierra Nevada Space Systems was .
Ball Aerospace, which also bid on the contract, .
The GAO appeal process 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
