SpaceX has added another mission to its already crowded launch list.
Elon Musk’s company has received a contract to launch the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite JPSS-4. If all goes according to plan, JPSS-4 is scheduled to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California in 2027.
The fixed-price contract is worth $112.7 million, “which includes launch services and other mission-related costs,” NASA officials said in an update on Monday (July 22).
The Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) program is a collaboration between NOAA and NASA (which awarded the JPSS-4 launch contract on behalf of NOAA). The constellation will collect a variety of information about Earth’s land, sea, and sky.
“These data support NOAA’s mission for continuous observation of Earth’s environment to understand and predict changes in weather, climate, oceans and coasts to support the nation’s economy and protect lives and property,” NASA officials wrote in the same update. “NASA uses the instruments aboard the JPSS satellites to continue decades of Earth science research for the betterment of humanity.”
Three JPSS satellites have been launched so far, all of which are still operational: Suomi in October 2011, JPSS-1 in November 2017 (renamed NOAA-20 after reaching final orbit), and JPSS-2 (NOAA-21) in November 2022. All three were launched on United Launch Alliance rockets. Delta II was Suomi and JPSS-1, and Atlas V was JPSS-2.
The JPSS fleet will eventually consist of five satellites. JPSS-3 is scheduled to launch in 2032, completing the constellation.
The Falcon 9 has already been launched 69 times by 2024. However, a malfunction on its final flight on July 11 has kept it grounded for the time being.
During the mission, a liquid oxygen leak from the rocket’s upper stage and a fire in the orbital altitude ascent engine prevented it from completing as scheduled. Thus, the Falcon 9 landed too low, carrying its payload of 20 SpaceX Starlink internet satellites. All 20 spacecraft are considered doomed and will die fiery deaths in Earth’s atmosphere.