Integration for JPSS-1's Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer suite completed by Raytheon
NewsDecember 12, 2013
EL SEGUNDO, CA. Raytheon completed integration and manufacturing for the subassemblies in of its second Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer (VIIR) suite, which will soon fly on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1) spacecraft. The integrated sensor, currently beginning testing, is scheduled for delivery in 2015.
The testing cycle consists of two phases. Ambient testing, which began last month, will confirm the ability of the electronics module to command the sensor through flight software in a lab at room temperature, proper optical measurement of external phenomena, and system-wide mechanical functioning.
Following ambient testing, the suite will then enter environmental testing, which simulates conditions that exist during launch and in space. This is the final evaluation prior to the suite being cleared for delivery.
Raytheon's first VIIRS flies on the NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP spacecraft, which is the precursor to the next-generation weather and environmental forecasting JPSS. The second VIIRS is expected to launch on the JPSS-1 satellite mission in 2017. NASA is developing and acquiring the JPSS-1 mission for NOAA.
