WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force has signed off on the final design for a new imaging sensor that could improve the service’s weather forecasting capabilities.
The electro-optical infrared sensor, developed by EO Vista, is part of General Atomics’ offering for the service’s EO/IR Weather System (EWS) program, which will provide military users with crucial weather imagery and cloud characterization data.
General Atomics is one of three companies awarded EWS prototype contracts in 2020; Raytheon and Atmospheric & Space Technology Research Associates also received initial contracts. The Space Force has since issued a second round of funding to Raytheon and General Atomics and plans to choose one company this spring to demonstrate its satellite on orbit.
EO Vista said in a Jan. 31 press release its multispectral weather imaging sensor has a full global refresh rate of one hour. When paired with a cloud-based weather data processing system developed by Atmospheric and Environmental Research for General Atomics, the two provide “a complete end-to-end theater weather imaging and cloud characterization capability for the U.S. Space Force.”
To reduce future development risk and keep its payload on track for delivery to General Atomics in the first quarter of 2023, EO Vista has incorporated flight software on its engineering development units. Along with early hardware and software integration, the company has already started receiving flight hardware at its production facility.
The Space Force’s legacy weather monitoring constellation, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, is aging out and the remaining satellites are expected to reach the end of their service life between 2023 and 2026.
EWS’ cloud characterization and weather imagery capabilities will replace a portion of the legacy requirements. As the Space Force eyes a prototype demonstration in 2025, it is also considering buying EWS data as a service. In a request for information released last month, the service said it is “interested in obtaining weather data as a service that is contractor-developed, owned and operated with limited government investment in the initial or prototype capability.”
Meanwhile, the service has created a separate effort to address the remaining DMSP capability gaps — the Weather Satellite Follow-on Microwave program. Ball Aerospace is developing the first satellite, which is slated to launch in late 2023.
Courtney Albon is C4ISRNET’s space and emerging technology reporter. She has covered the U.S. military since 2012, with a focus on the Air Force and Space Force. She has reported on some of the Defense Department’s most significant acquisition, budget and policy challenges.
