Power-on of the spacecraft’s avionics and major electronic subsystems on the systems module is a key milestone to delivery of the first GOES-R satellite.
Lockheed Martin Powers On First GOES-R Weather Satellite
Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has powered on the system module of the GOES-R satellite for the first time. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite–R series (GOES-R) is NOAA’s next geostationary weather satellite. Power-on of the spacecraft’s avionics and major electronic subsystems is a key milestone to delivery of the first satellite.
The system module of the A2100-based satellite is being built at Lockheed Martin Space System’s Newtown, Pa. facility. The system module testing will demonstrate the functionality and integration of three major electrical subsystems, Command and Data Handling, Communication, and Electrical Power. A total of 76 electronic boxes and 12 wiring harnesses were installed in preparation for this power up.
“This is one of the most significant milestones on the program to date and our team demonstrated their dedication by getting us here on-time,” said Paula Hartley, program manager for the GOES-R Series at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. “Even though we thoroughly test each subsystem at the box level, this is the first time that we’ve seen it working as a complex integrated system. It’s the beginning of a new satellite.”
With successful completion of the system module testing, the GOES-R system module will be shipped to Lockheed Martin Space Systems’ Waterton facility near Denver to be integrated with the propulsion module. Once the system module and propulsion module are mated, the spacecraft will move onto the payload integration, functional testing and environmental testing phases of the program.
Data from NOAA’s GOES satellites provides accurate real-time weather forecasts and early warning products to NOAA’s National Weather Service and other public and private sectors. The advanced spacecraft and instrument technology on the GOES-R series will vastly improve forecasting quality and timeliness, generating significant benefits to the U.S. and Western Hemisphere in the areas of public safety, severe weather monitoring, space weather prediction, ecosystems management, commerce and transportation.
In January 2013, NASA exercised the option for Lockheed Martin to develop two additional GOES R-series satellites, designated T & U, for NOAA bringing the total number of satellites that will be built to four.
In addition to the spacecraft, Lockheed Martin is also designing and building the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) and the Geostationary Lighting Mapper (GLM) instruments that will each fly aboard the four spacecraft.
The NOAA Satellite and Information Service funds, manages, and will operate the GOES-R series satellites. NASA oversees the acquisition and development of the GOES-R spacecraft and instruments for NOAA. The program is co-located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 116,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products, and services. The Corporation’s net sales for 2012 were $47.2 billion.
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Quelle: Lockheed Martin
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Update: 25.06.2014
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NOAA GOES-R Satellite Black Wing Ready for Flight
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The solar array that will provide power to NOAA's GOES-R satellite has been tested, approved and shipped to a facility where it will be incorporated on the spacecraft. The five sections of the solar array come together as one to resemble a giant black wing.
On May 13, 2014, the GOES-R satellite solar array panels were successful deployed in a Lockheed Martin clean room in Sunnyvale, California. The completed solar array was then delivered to Lockheed Martin’s facility near Denver.
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This photo shows a successful deployment of the GOES-R satellite solar array in a Lockheed Martin clean room in Sunnyvale, California, on May 13, 2014.
Image Credit: Lockheed Martin
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"The GOES-R solar array generates more than 4,000 watts of power, twice as much as that of the previous generation of GOES satellites, in order to operate the larger and more capable instruments carried by GOES-R," said Pam Sullivan, GOES-R flight project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The GOES-R spacecraft uses a photovoltaic solar array to derive electricity from sunlight. Photovoltaics is a method that uses semiconductors to convert solar radiation into direct current electricity.
The solar array is comprised of five separate solar panels that are folded up at launch. After the satellite is released by the launch vehicle, the solar panels are deployed into a single solar array wing that rotates once per day on orbit to continuously point the solar array photovoltaic cells towards the sun.
The solar array provides a stable platform that tracks the seasonal and daily movement of the sun relative to the spacecraft. It will power all of the instruments, including the computers, data processors, attitude control sensors and actuators, and telecommunications equipment.
The instruments include the Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS), the Magnetometer, the Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS), Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI), the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), and Unique Payload Services (UPS). The UPS suite consists of transponder payloads providing communications relay services in addition to the primary GOES mission data. The UPS suite consists of the Data Collection System (DCS), the High Rate information Transmission / Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (HRIT/EMWIN), GOES-R Rebroadcast (GRB), and the Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) System.
The GOES-R, or Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite – R Series, advanced spacecraft and instrument technology will result in more timely and accurate weather forecasts. It will improve support for the detection and observations of meteorological phenomena and directly enhance public safety, protection of property, and ultimately, economic health and development.
GOES-R will be more advanced than NOAA's current GOES fleet. The satellites are expected to more than double the clarity of today's GOES imagery and provide more atmospheric observations than current capabilities with more frequent images.
NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, manages the GOES-R Series Program through an integrated NOAA-NASA program office, staffed with personnel from NOAA and NASA, and co-located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
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Artist concept of the GOES-R spacecraft with instruments and solar array labeled.
Image Credit: NOAA
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Quelle: NASA
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Update: 12.01.2015
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All Instruments for NOAA’s GOES-R Satellite Now Integrated with Spacecraft
All six instruments that will fly on the NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Satellite – R (GOES-R) satellite have now completed integration onto the spacecraft.
The instruments are: the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), the Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS), the Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS), the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) and the Magnetometer.
Together, these instruments will offer significant improvements for the observation of both terrestrial weather and space weather that impact life on Earth. The GOES-R series satellites will offer enhanced hurricane track and intensity forecasts, increased severe weather warning lead time, improved solar flare warnings for communications and navigation disruptions, better data for long-term climate variability studies, improved aviation flight route planning, and better monitoring of space weather to improve geomagnetic storm forecasting.
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The GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) is installed onto the GOES-R spacecraft at Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colorado, on October 13, 2014.
Image Credit: Lockheed Martin
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"The completion of the instruments integration marks another critical step in the development of the GOES-R satellite as we look forward to launch in March 2016,” said Greg Mandt, NOAA’s GOES-R System Program Director at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. We are now focusing our efforts on the environmental testing phase, the next step for the GOES-R spacecraft, to ensure the satellite is prepared to withstand the rigors of launch and operation in the extreme environment of space.”
The GOES-R series will be more advanced than the current GOES fleet. The satellites are expected to more than double the clarity of today's GOES imagery and provide more atmospheric observations than current capabilities with more frequent images.
“We’re very excited about the new channels and higher resolution of the ABI, which will help NOAA’s Hurricane Center (NHC) monitor tropical cyclones. The data also have the potential to improve track forecasts when they're included in numerical models,” said James Franklin, branch chief, Hurricane Specialist Unit, NHC. “We also think GLM could help us better anticipate tropical cyclone rapid intensification periods. These new instruments on GOES-R represent a vast potential for future improvements.”
The advanced spacecraft and instrument technology on the GOES-R series satellites will result in more timely and accurate weather forecasts. It will improve support for the detection and observations of meteorological phenomena and directly affect public safety, protection of property, and ultimately, economic health and development. The GOES-R series satellites will provide images of weather patterns and severe storms as frequently as every 30 seconds, which will contribute to more accurate and reliable weather forecasts and severe weather alerts.
"Future GOES-R imagery, combined with its new lightning measurements, will provide NOAA Storm Prediction Center (SPC) forecasters with unprecedented observations of developing severe storms," said SPC Director Russell Schneider. “This will increase the accuracy of our warning messages for communities across the United States.”
With the GOES-R satellite on track for launch in March 2016, development for the following GOES-S satellite is also executing on schedule. Two instruments, ABI and EXIS, are already complete and work on the spacecraft is well underway as the satellite moves towards launch in the third Quarter of FY2017. The SEISS and SUVI instruments for GOES-S are scheduled for completion in 2015.
NOAA manages the GOES-R Series Program through an integrated NOAA-NASA program office, located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources.
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The GOES-R Space Environment In-Situ Suite Magnetospheric Particle Sensor – Low Energy Range sensor is installed onto the spacecraft alongside the SEISS Solar and Galactic Proton Sensor on November 5, 2014.
