NASA has selected Raytheon Company to provide three instruments and related services, with the option of one additional instrument, in support of the Landsat Next mission, based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
He contract, with a total value of 506.7 million dollars, requires the contractor to carry out the design, engineering analysis, algorithms, manufacturing, testing, delivery and support of the Landsat Next instruments. Work will be performed primarily at the contractor’s facility in El Segundo, California.
The Landsat Next mission is a crucial component of NASA’s Earth science portfolio, advancing Earth observation technologies, science and applications. Landsat Next to continue longest space-based record of Earth’s surfacewhile transforming the breadth and depth of usable information freely available to the public and other users in government, industry and academia.
With Landsat Next, NASA is moving from a single Landsat spacecraft to develop a constellation of three satellites smaller ones capable of offering two to three times the temporal, spatial and spectral resolution of previous Landsat satellites.
The new Landsat Next 26-band super-spectral constellation will enhance existing Landsat applications, building on Landsat’s 50-year legacy, improving life on Earth through climate and technological advances, and unlocking new applications that support assessment of water quality and aquatic health, crop production and soil conservation, forest management and monitoring, climate and snow dynamics research, and mineral mapping.
The Landsat Next mission is a partnership between NASA and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to advance Earth observation technologies, science and applications under the Sustainable Earth Imaging Program, to more effectively map, monitor and manage America’s terrestrial, aquatic and coastal resources.
