Firefly Aerospace, an end-to-end space transportation company, announced the company was awarded a NASA Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) mission to launch the QuickSounder environmental satellite on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Scheduled to launch on Firefly’s Alpha rocket in 2026, the collaborative mission between NASA and NOAA is the first project supporting NOAA’s new Near Earth Orbit Network (NEON) program.
“The Firefly team is honored to support this critical pathfinder mission for the NEON program that will transform our nation’s weather forecasting and climate models,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly aerospace. “Our flight proven Alpha rocket that’s dedicated to serving the one-metric ton launch market is well suited to meet the needs of the NEON program, which requires fast, flexible, and direct launch services.”
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NEON is the next generation environmental satellite system that will supplement and eventually replace NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System. The NEON program aims to launch small to medium-sized satellites with Earth-observing instruments more frequently to create a resilient constellation of low Earth orbit satellites that can be deployed quickly to enhance the nation’s weather forecasting, disaster management, and climate change monitoring.
Developed by the Southwest Research Institute, QuickSounder is the first environmental satellite to launch as part of NEON. QuickSounder will carry NOAA’s Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) instrument that provides critical information about Earth’s atmosphere, such as temperature and moisture, within just 30 minutes of data collection to significantly improve NOAA’s weather prediction models for fires, floods, droughts, and more.
Launching from Firefly’s SLC-2 launch site at the Vandenberg Space Force Base, the QuickSounder mission will be Firefly’s second Alpha launch for NASA. Firefly’s Alpha rocket is the only commercially operational launch vehicle dedicated to serving the one-metric ton satellite market. The flight proven vehicle provides responsive, reliable, and cost-competitive launch services directly to customers’ preferred orbits.
SOURCE: PRNewswire