General Atomics Completes Final Design Review for U.S. Space Force’s Weather System Satellite Program

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) completed the Final Design Review (FDR) of its spacecraft design for the U.S. Space Force (USSF) Space Systems Command Electro-Optical Infrared (EO/IR) Weather System (EWS) satellite program.

GA-EMS has developed a prototype EWS spacecraft utilizing a reliable, redundant bus with a high performance EO/IR weather sensor payload to support the USSF as it looks to transition from aging on-orbit systems to next generation weather satellites.

As the prime contractor, GA-EMS has assembled team to deliver the EWS satellite design. The team includes EO Vista, LLC to provide the EO/IR weather sensor payload, Atmospheric and Environmental Research Inc. for weather product generation, and Parsons Corporation to provide Enterprise Ground Station command and control and operations support.

“In November 2021, we announced an up-scope of our EWS program efforts to deliver an on-orbit three-to-five-year prototype spacecraft with residual operational capabilities, rather than a one-year sensor demonstrator,” said Gregg Burgess, vice president of Space Systems at GA-EMS. “The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellites are rapidly reaching end of life.  By pivoting to provide operational capability, we enable the Space Force to continue to support the warfighter by filling EO/IR cloud data gaps created as legacy satellites are retired.  Our world-class manufacturing, test and integration facilities are ready to meet the critical build and launch timelines for EWS.”