Atlas V 401 | JPSS 2 (Joint Polar Satellite System spacecraft No. 2) & LOFTID

Launch Provider & Rocket

• Provider: United Launch Alliance (Commercial)
• Rocket: Atlas V 401 — Atlas family

Mission

JPSS is a collaborative program between NOAA and NASA. JPSS-2 is one of five satellites that will comprise the JPSS constellation. These spacecraft gather global measurements of atmospheric, terrestrial and oceanic conditions, including sea and land surface temperatures, vegetation, clouds, rainfall, snow and ice cover, fire locations and smoke plumes, atmospheric temperature, water vapor and ozone. LOFTID is a tech demo for the inflatable heatshield technology. It will attempt to survive a reentry from orbit after JPSS 2 is separated. This test will validate the technology for various applications, such as landing large payloads on Mars and engine reuse on ULA’s Vulcan rocket.

• Type: Earth Science
• Orbit: Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO)

Launch Site

• Pad: Space Launch Complex 3E
• Location: Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
• View on map

Program

• NASA Large Strategic Science Missions — NASA's large strategic science missions or large strategic missions, formerly known as Flagship missions or Flagship-class missions, are the costliest and most capable NASA science spacecraft. Flagship missions exist within all four divisions of NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD): the astrophysics, Earth science, heliophysics and planetary science divisions. (Wikipedia)