SSL 1300 bus. (SSL photo)
PALO ALTO, CA, June 1, 2007 - Satnews Daily - Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications (NASDAQ:LORL) and a provider of high-power commercial satellites, said the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Rapid Spacecraft Development Office (RSDO) recently awarded it a delivery order for a Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Spacecraft Accommodation Study.
The Landsat Program is a series of Earth-observing satellite missions jointly managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The satellites provide imagery that is used in agriculture, geology, forestry, regional planning, education, mapping, and global change research. The LDCM will ensure that 30 years of image records from previous Landsat satellites will be preserved into the next decade.
The four month LDCM spacecraft accommodation study is in preparation for a Request for Offer (RFO) for the LDCM satellite procurement, which is expected to be released by the RSDO this fall with an award in December.
SS/L will propose to NASA a spacecraft design based on the company's 1300-bus platform that meets LDCM implementation and mission requirements. During the four month project, SS/L will study how to integrate the LDCM Operational Land Imager (OLI) instrument and will include plans for mission integration, testing and other programmatic issues.
The delivery order follows a March 2007 award to SS/L for inclusion in the RSDO catalog of core spacecraft systems from which NASA and other federal agencies can order. SS/L's inclusion in the RSDO catalog enables the company to compete for a variety of U.S. government contracts.
"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to demonstrate how the 1300 satellite bus and our other space-proven building blocks can be configured to assure the success of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission," said John Celli, president and chief operating officer of Space Systems/Loral. "Our commercial satellite customers demand fixed budgets and schedules as well as unquestionable service reliability. Our experience in meeting these stringent requirements positions us very well for meeting the needs of U.S. government programs."
