Gilbert plant to build NASA weather satellites

Next-generation weather satellites designed to monitor Earth's climate and weather patterns for the U.S. government will be the latest in an array of spacecraft to be built at a high-tech manufacturing center in Gilbert.

Orbital ATK, based in Virginia with Arizona facilities in Gilbert, Chandler and Mesa, recently landed a contract worth up to $470 million to design and build the Joint Polar Satellite System for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which oversees the National Weather Service.

Data and images from the weather satellites are expected to boost the timeliness and accuracy of public warnings and weather forecasts, reducing potential loss of life and property, according to NASA.

Once in orbit, the JPSS satellites will circle the globe from pole to pole, crossing the equator 14 times every day. They're designed to help improve forecasts three to seven days ahead of a severe weather event, according to NOAA.

The satellites will measure conditions like atmospheric temperature and moisture, hurricane intensity, rainfall, fog, volcanic ash, smoke plumes from wildfires, snow cover, surface temperatures and ozone.

The first JPSS satellite is already in development by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. and is scheduled to launch in 2017. Orbital's 135,000-square-foot satellite factory in Gilbert will build the program's second satellite, with options for two more.

Orbital's JPSS-2 satellite is scheduled to be completed by 2020, while the next two spacecraft will likely come in 2024 and 2028. Each satellite has a life of at least seven years in orbit, according to Orbital ATK.

While the weather satellites are funded by the U.S. government, the data is shared freely with domestic and international partners, including 88 nations and the European Commission, according to NOAA.

Orbital's factory near McQueen and Elliot roads in Gilbert has built two other high-profile NASA satellites in the last few years, including the world's first devoted solely to monitoring carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere.

The $470 million Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 uses three spectrometers to take a new snapshot of Earth every 16 days, allowing researchers to produce detailed maps of greenhouse-gas emissions, a major contributor to global climate change. The satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on July 2, 2014.

Landsat 8, a 20-foot-tall satellite built in Gilbert for the U.S. Geological Survey, snaps images of Earth's surface using multiple spectrums to track environmental trends like shrinking glaciers, crop production, water use and deforestation. The satellite settled into orbit in February 2013.

Orbital ATK is a new company formed by the merger of Orbital Sciences, which has owned the Gilbert facility since 2010, and Alliant Techsystems.