BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems has secured a $230.6 million delivery order from NASA for the construction of a spacecraft for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The agency said Friday the spacecraft will be built for the Lagrange 1 Series project under NOAA’s Space Weather Next program.
The firm-fixed-price delivery order, awarded under the Rapid Spacecraft Acquisition IV contract, involves constructing a maximum of two spacecraft. It also covers instrument integration and satellite-level testing. The Boulder, Colorado-based company will also provide training for the spacecraft flight operations team and support for mission operations.
Contract work will be performed at the Space & Missions Systems facility in Boulder. The project will run from February 2025 to February 2035.
What Is the Space Weather Next Program?
NOAA’s Space Weather Next program is intended to enhance and maintain space weather observations from different strategic locations. The goal is to continuously monitor the Sun and near-Earth space environment to safeguard technological infrastructure on the ground and in space.
The spacecraft BAE Systems is set to build will be deployed to Lagrange 1, one of the orbitally stable points located around one million miles from Earth. The mission, the first Space Weather Next Lagrange 1 Series, is scheduled for launch in 2029. It is expected to be the program’s first observatory and will be utilized for gathering continuous real-time coronal imagery and solar wind measurements. The spacecraft will transmit critical data to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, which will be used for issuing forecasts, warnings and alerts. Furthermore, the Space Weather Next will ensure the continuous flow of data upon the end of the Space Weather Follow On Lagrange 1 mission.
