The Southwest Research Institute won a $55 million contract to supply the QuickSounder weather satellite according to Spacenews.
San Antonio-based SwRI will develop the QuickSounder spacecraft, integrate it with NOAA’s Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder engineering development unit, handle transportation, launch, three years of operations and satellite decommissioning. The firm-fixed-price contract extends through until May 2029.
QuickSounder is the first element of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Near Earth Orbit Network (NEON), a new generation of polar-orbiting weather satellites.
“As a pathfinder mission, QuickSounder will support NOAA’s next-generation satellite architecture for its future low Earth orbit program, which will provide mission-critical data to support NOAA’s National Weather Service and the nation’s weather industry,” according to the NOAA news release.
In December, NOAA announced plans to launch an Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder engineering development unit refurbished by manufacturer Northrop Grumman on a commercial satellite bus for QuickSounder. Through QuickSounder, NOAA is demonstrating a way to rapidly update its weather satellite constellation.
