Next NASA Earth-Observing Satellite Arrives in California for Launch

On Tuesday, Aug. 30, NASA's next earth-observing research satellite arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California to begin preparations for an October launch.

The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) is the first of a new generation of satellites that will observe many facets of our changing Earth.

The satellite will collect critical data to improve our understanding of long-term climate change and short-term weather conditions. With NPP, NASA continues many key data records initiated by the agency's Earth Observing System satellites by monitoring changes occurring in the atmosphere, oceans, vegetation, ice and solid Earth.

On Aug. 28, NPP was placed in a shipping container and loaded on a transport truck at Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. After Tuesday's arrival, the satellite was unloaded and moved into the clean room at the AstroTech facility for launch preparation.

"The NPP team has produced an outstanding satellite and kept to schedule over the past year and a half," said Ken Schwer, NPP project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "The world is looking forward to NPP's scientific measurements."

The NPP spacecraft will undergo prelaunch processing at Vandenberg, including a solar array functional test; a spacecraft limited performance test; and testing of the science instruments. Following these tests and a spacecraft launch simulation, the satellite will be fueled with its attitude control propellant.

NPP will be launched on a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7920 expendable launch vehicle. The Delta II first stage was hoisted into position on the pad at NASA's Space Launch Complex 2 on July 20. By Aug. 2, the nine solid rocket boosters were attached, and the second stage was hoisted atop the first stage. Launch vehicle testing is under way.

The NPP spacecraft is scheduled to move to the pad and be mated with the rocket on Oct. 7. Launch is scheduled for Oct. 25 during a 9-minute and 10-second launch window from 5:48:01 to 5:57:11 a.m. EDT. The Delta II will place the satellite into a 512-mile high circular polar orbit.

NPP is the first satellite mission to address the challenge of acquiring a wide range of land, ocean, and atmospheric measurements for Earth system science while simultaneously preparing to address operational requirements for weather forecasting.