LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (USSF SSC PR) — The USSF Space Systems Command (SSC) Space Development Corps has completed all System Final Design Reviews (FDRs) for the Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) Weather System (EWS) program, and, through competitive evaluation, subsequently exercised options to develop and launch two separate sensor prototypes to Orion Space Solutions and General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems Group (GA-EMS).

Orion Space Solutions, a non-traditional vendor, will launch a one-year EO/IR CubeSat prototype demonstration in fall 2022. Next, GA-EMS has been selected to launch a three-year EO/IR SmallSat prototype with the capability to deliver operational data by 2025.

ACTON, Mass. (EO Vista PR) — EO Vista (EOVista.com) has completed the Sensor Final Design Review for the U.S. Space Force Electro-Optical Infrared Weather System (EWS) Program.  EO Vista, a member of the General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) EWS Program team, is developing and building EOV-1, a modernized, electro-optical infrared (EO/IR) weather sensor, to deliver cloud characterization and theater weather imagery to meet the DoD’s critical need for up to the minute high quality weather products.  The EWS program will provide enhanced weather imaging capabilities beyond those performed by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), which is nearing its end of life. 

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (SMC PR) — The Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) has awarded three Other Transaction Authority agreements, totaling $309 million, to develop prototypes for the Electro Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) Weather System (EWS) program. The awardees, each a member of the Space Enterprise Consortium (SpEC), are:  

• Raytheon Technologies
• General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems Group (subcontractors: EO Vista/Atmospheric & Environmental Research (AER)/Braxton Technologies)
• Atmospheric & Space Technology Research Associates (ASTRA) (subcontractors: Tyvak/Science & Technologies Corps (STC)/AER/Lockheed Martin)

LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (USAF PR) — On Feb. 11, after more than 22 years of providing vital global weather data to the U.S. and its allies, Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Flight 14 was decommissioned after completing 118, 052 orbits of the Earth.

End of Life (EOL) procedures were accomplished by operators at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF) in Suitland, Maryland, under the direction of United States Space Force’s 50th Space Wing. Space and Missiles Systems Center technical experts worked in concert with the rest of the team to ensure the EOL procedures were effectively and efficiently executed.