- INFORMATION
NPP
- About Suomi NPP/3
Over the last decade NASA launched a series of satellites that offer an unparalleled view of Earth from space. That series, known collectively as NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS), has provided striking new insights into many aspects of Earth, including its clouds, oceans, vegetation, ice, and atmosphere. However, as the EOS satellites age, a new generation of Earth-observing satellites are poised to take over.
The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership represents a critical first step in building this next-generation satellite system. Suomi NPP orbits the Earth about 14 times each day and observe nearly the entire surface. The NPP satellite continues key data records that are critical for climate change science.
The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership spacecraft lifted off at 5:48 a.m. EDT on Oct. 28, 2011, to begin its Earth observation mission. The spacecraft was lifted into orbit by a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The launch capped a flawless countdown.
The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership represents a critical first step in building this next-generation satellite system. Suomi NPP orbits the Earth about 14 times each day and observe nearly the entire surface. The NPP satellite continues key data records that are critical for climate change science.
The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership spacecraft lifted off at 5:48 a.m. EDT on Oct. 28, 2011, to begin its Earth observation mission. The spacecraft was lifted into orbit by a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The launch capped a flawless countdown.
- Spacecraft and Instruments/3
Suomi NPP carries a diverse payload of scientific instruments to monitor the planet. The 4,600-pound (2,100 kilogram) spacecraft, which is about the size of a small school bus, crosses the equator each afternoon at about 1:30 p.m. local time.
The Suomi NPP space segment is comprised of six elements. The spacecraft, the five instrument/sensor payloads, and the associated ground support equipment and simulators.
The spacecraft is a member of the Ball Configurable Platform (BCP) family of spacecraft designed for cost-effective, remote sensing applications. Its proven design accommodates a wide range of payloads, including optical applications with sub-meter resolutions and synthetic aperture radar.
The NPP spacecraft bus is the eighth of 11 spacecraft built by Ball Aerospace on the same BCP 2000 core architecture. In all, this architecture has more than 50 years of successful on-orbit operations. The BCP 2000 was designed to accommodate a wide variety of Earth-observing payloads that require precision pointing control, flexible high-data throughput and downlinks, and controlled re-entry. The spacecraft has a 7-year design life, with a five-year 5-year mission life.
Ball Aerospace designed and built the spacecraft bus, under contract to Goddard Space Flight Center, and was responsible for integrating the instruments and for performing satellite-level testing and launch support.
The five instruments manifested for flight on the Suomi NPP spacecraft trace their heritage to instruments on NASA's Terra, Aqua and Aura missions, on NOAA's Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) spacecraft, and on DOD's Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP).
Referred by NPP(http://npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/) websiteThe Suomi NPP space segment is comprised of six elements. The spacecraft, the five instrument/sensor payloads, and the associated ground support equipment and simulators.
The spacecraft is a member of the Ball Configurable Platform (BCP) family of spacecraft designed for cost-effective, remote sensing applications. Its proven design accommodates a wide range of payloads, including optical applications with sub-meter resolutions and synthetic aperture radar.
The NPP spacecraft bus is the eighth of 11 spacecraft built by Ball Aerospace on the same BCP 2000 core architecture. In all, this architecture has more than 50 years of successful on-orbit operations. The BCP 2000 was designed to accommodate a wide variety of Earth-observing payloads that require precision pointing control, flexible high-data throughput and downlinks, and controlled re-entry. The spacecraft has a 7-year design life, with a five-year 5-year mission life.
Ball Aerospace designed and built the spacecraft bus, under contract to Goddard Space Flight Center, and was responsible for integrating the instruments and for performing satellite-level testing and launch support.
The five instruments manifested for flight on the Suomi NPP spacecraft trace their heritage to instruments on NASA's Terra, Aqua and Aura missions, on NOAA's Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) spacecraft, and on DOD's Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP).
