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Ball Aerospace GFO Satellite Begins Eleventh Year On Orbit
Boulder CO (SPX) Apr 10, 2008 The Ball Aerospace and Technologies operational altimeter satellite, GEOSAT Follow-On (GFO), has achieved 10 years of successful on orbit operation, providing continuous worldwide oceanographic data for ships at sea and the Navy's shore-based facilities. GFO, launched in February 1998, was the first real-time, radar altimeter satellite built for the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. The follow-on to the highly successful GEOSAT-A, the GFO satellite completed 154 exact repeat cycles in February 2008. "The GFO satellite continues to operate beyond its design life, providing ocean observation critical to both naval planners and oceanographers," said Jeff Osterkamp, vice president and general manager for Ball Aerospace's National Defense Solutions business unit. Currently the Radar Altimeter is being power cycled on/off during eclipse periods to maintain the satellite electrical power system. Ball Aerospace built the spacecraft bus, procured the payload and launch services and supplied the system software and hardware for the mission's ground support stations. Ball also provided the integrated antenna for the payload's altimeter and radiometer as well as the global positioning system and communications antennas. Although primarily a Navy tactical satellite, GFO is important for weather research and its mission data has lead to vast improvements in our knowledge of ocean circulation by measuring subtle differences in sea surface height associated with ocean currents and eddies. The GFO altimeter also provides information about wave height, and sea and glacier ice. The GFO satellite is controlled by the Naval Satellite Operations Center. In addition to transmitting data directly to Navy ships, GFO stores global data and passes it via remote receiving stations to the Naval Oceanographic Office. NOAA is responsible for distribution to NASA and the civil and scientific communities. Related Links Ball Aerospace Space Technology News - Applications and Research
TDRS-1 Satellite Reaches 25 Years Of Age
Redondo Beach CA (SPX) Apr 08, 2008The first of six Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system spacecraft built by Northrop Grumman completed 25 years of successful on-orbit operations on April 4, setting a new standard for long life and reliability. Enhancing earth-to-space communications for a quarter of a century, the TDRS-1 satellite tracks and communicates with low-Earth-orbiting satellites. |
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