General Atomics Awarded Contract for Second EWS Satellite and On-Orbit Services

General Atomics EWS Satellite ● Photo Credit: General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems

SAN DIEGO, July 11, 2024 (VSNewsNetwork.com) - General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) announced that it has been awarded a contract modification by the U.S. Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC). This modification involves the delivery of a second weather satellite and the provision of three years of operations services for both satellites, supporting the Electro-Optical Infrared (EO/IR) Weather System (EWS) program.

The updated contract continues GA-EMS’s work to design and deliver an operational EWS spacecraft with integrated EO/IR payloads. This effort supports the transition of the USSF’s aging Defense Meteorological Support Program (DMSP) on-orbit systems to a new generation of affordable, high-performance, small weather satellites.

“This contract is a testament to GA-EMS’ ability to design and deliver advanced EWS satellites that will provide timely, accurate weather data to support Department of Defense operations across all domains,” said Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “We are currently working toward the delivery of the first EWS satellite and associated ground systems, with spacecraft build and EO/IR payload testing well underway. We are excited to begin the build and integration of a second EWS satellite to help support USSF efforts to extend EO/IR data collection capabilities as legacy DMSP satellites are retired.”

As the prime contractor, GA-EMS is responsible for the spacecraft bus and EO/IR payload design development, build, assembly, integration, and test (AIT). The team includes Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER) Inc. for weather product expertise, and Parsons Corporation for Enterprise Ground Station command and control and operations support.

“From our initial 2020 contract award to develop an EWS satellite design to today’s contract modification to deliver two EWS satellites and on-orbit operations services, our team continues to make excellent progress toward meeting EWS mission requirements,” said Gregg Burgess, vice president of GA-EMS Space Systems. “After decades of providing exemplary weather support to military operations and the nation, DMSP is sunsetting. It is imperative that modern, advanced EO/IR weather satellites enter service to ensure accurate, uninterrupted weather data affecting daily operations, mission planning, and intelligence gathering reaches military decision-makers in a timely manner. We look forward to delivering our exquisite solutions for on-orbit weather data collection, high-resolution weather imagery, and environmental monitoring data products that will help keep our warfighters on the cutting edge of mission overmatch.”

For more information, visit www.ga.com.

Source: General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems via Newswire