Northrop Grumman has announced the completion of the testing of a sensor for a low-Earth orbiting satellite technology designed for military and civilian purposes.
Raytheon is working as a subcontractor for Northrop Grumman on the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environment Satellite System (NPOESS). Northrop Grumman and Raytheon concluded testing of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite sensor (VIIRS).
According to officials, the VIIRS sensor is critical for the NPOESS and its ability to transmit weather and climate monitoring data to support mission-critical operations for the U.S. military. With the testing completed, the VIIRS was installed in a shipping container, ahead of eventual shipment to Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. for spacecraft integration.
Dave Vandervoet, vice president of NPOESS and program manager for Northrop Grumman’s Aerospace Systems sector, said “VIIRS demonstrated very, very good radiometric performance during testing. Issues of design and performance were substantially allayed as we reviewed testing results and saw that this sensor will indeed deliver beneficial new capabilities. This is a significant milestone for VIIRS and for the NPOESS program.”
