Operator
U.S. Geological SurveyManufacturer
U.S. Geological SurveyLandsat 9 Mission
9/27/2021
On 2022-08-11, the U.S. Geological Survey assumed operational control of the Landsat 9 satellite from NASA.
Parsons has integrated payloads for missions including the U.S. Space Force’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF)-5 communications satellite and the joint NASA/U.S. Geological Survey Landsat 9 Earth observation satellite.
Parsons will integrate a secondary payload for the Atlas 5 launch of Landsat 9, a NASA Earth observation satellite projected to launch in December 2020.
Ball Aerospace developed and built the cryocooler for Landsat 9’s Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 (TIRS-2) instrument.
The Defense Logistics Agency informed the Landsat 9 project on 2021-08-23 that liquid nitrogen supplies at Vandenberg Space Force Base were critically low and could not support upcoming prelaunch test activities or the launch itself.
United Launch Alliance had launched 144 times to date with a 100 percent mission success record prior to the Landsat 9 launch.
Ball Aerospace designed and built the cryocooler that will keep Landsat 9’s Thermal Infrared Sensor 2 (TIRS-2) chilled to 40 Kelvin (-388 F).
Ball Aerospace built the Operational Land Imager 2 (OLI-2) instrument that launched aboard Landsat 9.