Ball Aerospace JPSS 1 Satellite. Photo: JPSS

[Via Satellite 12-05-13] Ball Aerospace has completed the primary bus structure of the first satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS 1). JPSS 1 is the follow-on in a series of next generation satellites and is scheduled for launch in early 2017.

Procured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), JPSS 1 will continue the observations now provided by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite, also built by Ball and launched in 2011. The satellite will provide essential data for civil and military weather forecasting, storm tracking, and climate monitoring.

“We remain ahead of schedule in meeting our milestones,” said Cary Ludtke, vice president and general manager for Ball’s operational space business unit. “JPSS 1 will operationalize the advanced technologies currently being demonstrated on Suomi NPP, and with the satellite’s core structure complete, we can now push on to assembly, integration and test as we prepare for instrument integration in November 2014.”

Ball is under contract to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to design and build the JPSS 1 satellite bus, the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) instrument, integrate all instruments, and perform satellite-level testing and launch support. Additional remote sensing instruments for JPSS include the Visible/Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES), the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) and the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS).