JPSS-2 Atlas V Fairing Lift to Vertical

On Aug. 11, 2022, teams at the Astrotech facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB) in California use a crane to raise to vertical one of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V payload fairing halves for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite mission. The payload fairing protects the spacecraft during launch and flight through the atmosphere. JPSS-2 is the third satellite in the Joint Polar Satellite System series. It is scheduled to lift off from VSFB on Nov. 1 from Space Launch Complex-3 East. JPSS-2 will scan the globe as it orbits from the North to the South Pole, crossing the equator 14 times a day. From 512 miles above Earth, it will capture data that inform weather forecasts, extreme weather events, and climate change. The Visible Infrared Radiometer Suite instrument will collect imagery for global observations of the land, atmosphere, cryosphere, and oceans. Launching as a secondary payload to JPSS-2 is NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID), dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter. LOFTID is a demonstration of a hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator, or aeroshell, technology that could one day help land humans on Mars.