NASA Set for NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System-2 Launch Nov. 1 from Vandenberg Space Force Base

NASA & SPACE NEWS

(NASA) – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Joint Polar Satellite System-2 mission is scheduled to launch at 5:25 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Nov. 1, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the polar satellite series and is expected to capture data to improve weather forecasts, helping scientists predict and prepare for extreme weather events and climate change.

Live launch coverage will begin at 4:45 a.m. EDT (1:45 a.m. PDT) on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website, with prelaunch and science briefings beginning Friday, Oct. 28.

JPSS represents significant technological and scientific advancements in observations used for severe weather prediction and environmental monitoring.

These data are critical to the timeliness and accuracy of forecasts three to seven days in advance of a severe weather event. It will scan Earth as it orbits from the North Pole to the South Pole, crossing the equator 14 times a day to provide full global coverage twice a day.

NASA and NOAA partner in the development, launch, testing, and operation of all satellites in the JPSS series.

Launching with JPSS-2 is NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) technology demonstration. After JPSS-2 safely reaches orbit, LOFTID will follow a re-entry trajectory from low-Earth orbit to demonstrate the inflatable heat shield’s ability to slow down and survive re-entry.

LOFTID is a partnership with ULA and is dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter, one of the company’s engineers who played a key role in developing the technology.

LOFTID will demonstrate how the inflatable aeroshell, or heat shield, can slow down and survive re-entry in conditions relevant to many potential applications, whether landing humans on Mars, new missions to Venus and Titan, or returning heavier payloads and samples from low-Earth orbit.

Friday, Oct. 28

6 p.m. EDT (3 p.m. PDT) – JPSS-2 Prelaunch News Conference on NASA TV with the following participants:

■ Tim Walsh, director, of NOAA’s JPSS Program Office, NOAA

■ John Gagosian, director, of NASA’s Joint Agency Satellite Division

■ Irene Parker, deputy assistant administrator, NOAA Systems, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Services

■ Omar Baez, launch director, NASA’s Launch Services Program

■ Gary Wentz, vice president, of Government, and Commercial Programs, ULA

■ Jim Reuter, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate

■ Capt. Zack Zounes, launch weather officer, U.S. Space Force

Accredited news media planning to attend the briefing should confirm their participation with Tech Sgt. Patrick Harrower, 30th Space Wing public affairs officer, at: patrick.harrower@us.af.mil no later than 9 a.m. PDT Friday, Oct. 28.

Media may request the dial-in number and passcode by contacting the newsroom at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida no later than 2 p.m. PDT Friday, Oct. 28, at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov.

Media and the public also may ask questions during the event using #JPSS2 and #LOFTID.

Saturday, Oct. 29

4 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. PDT) – JPSS-2 Science Briefing on NASA TV with the following participants:

■ Jordan Gerth, meteorologist and satellite scientist, NOAA’s National Weather Service

■ Jim Gleason, senior project scientist, NASA JPSS, NASA

■ Satya Kalluri, program scientist, NOAA JPSS Program

■ Heather Kilcoyne, ground project manager, NOAA JPSS

■ Joe Del Corso, LOFTID project manager, NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia

Accredited news media planning to attend the briefing should confirm their participation with Tech Sgt. Patrick Harrower, 30th Space Wing public affairs officer, at: patrick.harrower@us.af.mil no later than 9 a.m. PDT Oct. 28.

Media may request the dial-in number and passcode by contacting the Kennedy newsroom no later than 2 p.m. PDT Friday, Oct. 28, at: ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov. Media and the public also may ask questions during the event using #JPSS2 and #LOFTID.

Tuesday, Nov. 1

12 a.m. EDT (9 p.m. PDT Monday, Oct. 31) – NASA Edge will host the JPSS-2 Tower Rollback Show that will air live on NASA TV and YouTube.

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