Space Systems Command has launched a small satellite onboard the SpaceX Transporter-6 mission to showcase the capability of space-based electro-optical/infrared weather systems to provide weather imagery data from low Earth orbit.
The demonstration, which was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, will last for one year, the command announced on Tuesday.
According to Lt. Col. Joe Maguadog, EWS materiel leader and program manager, the EWS CubeSat technical demonstration will collect space-based environmental monitoring data to inform the U.S. Space Force’s movement toward a more resilient weather constellation.
SSC said Orion Space Solutions manufactured and delivered the weather imaging CubeSat prototype used in the demonstration under a contract awarded in February 2022.
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems Group was also selected to produce a second EO/IR SmallSat prototype to deliver operational data by 2025.
