General Atomics selected Rocket Lab on 2021-02-24 to launch an Orbital Test Bed satellite carrying the Argos-4 Advanced Data Collection System (A-DCS) hosted payload.
NOAA arranged the Argos-4 hosted payload launch through the Hosted Payload Solutions contract vehicle managed by the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center.
The Argos-4 A-DCS payload receives data from sensors ranging from ocean buoys to wildlife trackers and relays that data to ground stations.
The contract to launch the Argos-4 payload was awarded to General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems by the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center under a Hosted Payload Solutions delivery order on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems signed a contract with Rocket Lab to launch the Orbital Test Bed satellite carrying the Argos-4 Advanced Data Collection System hosted payload.
The Orbital Test Bed platform used for Argos-4 is flexible and modular and supports payload integration and launch vehicle integration and compliance.
General Atomics won a $37,900,000 contract in 2018 to fly NOAA’s Argos Advanced Data Collection System on the third Orbital Test Bed.
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems won a $37,900,000 contract in 2018 to fly the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Argos Advanced Data Collection System on the third Orbital Test Bed.
Kinéis has one final Argos hosted payload awaiting launch on India’s Oceansat-3 satellite in mid-2020 through a partnership with the Indian Space Research Organisation.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration used the Hosted Payload Solutions contract vehicle to award General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems a $37,900,000 contract to install the Argos Advanced Data Collection System on an Orbital Test Bed satellite.
The Oceansat-3 mission is scheduled to launch in 2020 to provide continuity of Argos service if an older Argos satellite is decommissioned.
Kinéis plans two additional Argos payloads before fielding its smallsat constellation: a 12-unit cubesat called ANGELS and a hosted payload on India’s Oceansat-3 satellite.
CLS is transferring responsibility for maritime IoT services for nearly 20,000 vessels connected through the CNES-built hosted payload network Argos to Kineis.