NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has begun requesting information from industry sources capable of developing a satellite constellation to acquire space-based images of the Earth’s land surface.
The Landsat Next constellation will comprise three identical observatories to be deployed into orbit on the same launch vehicle to continue the collection and distribution of Earth observation data globally, according to a notice posted Wednesday on SAM.gov.
LNext is a joint remote sensing satellite mission of NASA and the Department of Interior and the U.S. Geological Survey to capture space-based imagery for researchers to monitor water quality, climate and snow dynamics, soil health and crop production.
Each LNext satellite observatory will be equipped with an instrument suite and equally spaced in orbit at an orbital altitude of 653 kilometers.
USGS will build LNext’s ground segment, operate the constellation after the commissioning phase and oversee data processing and distribution.
The mission is planned for launch in late 2030.
Interested parties have until Nov. 3 to respond to the sources sought notice.
