Raytheon to Work On NOAA’s Polar Satellite Ground System

Artist rendition of NOAA JPSS-1 Satellite. Photo: NOAA

NASA awarded Raytheon’s Intelligence, Information, and Services business $59 million for additional work on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Joint Polar Satellite System Common Ground System project (JPSS CGS). The JPSS CGS was developed by NASA for NOAA, and collects and disseminates observations from polar-orbiting weather satellites from the U.S., Europe, and Japan.

The changes are necessary to launch the U.S.’s next polar satellite, JPSS-2, in 2021. The project recently completed the critical design review for the work and compatibility testing between the satellite and ground system will begin in early 2020.

In addition to changes to the command and control system and orbital dynamics system that will maneuver the JPSS-2 satellite in space, the contract also covers upgrades to the system’s simulation and cybersecurity capabilities, as well as expansion of the system’s wide area network and security incident response team. The new contract brings the total value of the project to just under $2 billion.