Delta II launches from Vandenberg carrying weather satellite into orbit

A Delta II rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base on Saturday morning launched a new era for collecting environmental data with an aim toward improving accuracy and timeliness for weather forecasts.

The 12-story-tall Delta II rocket, built by United Launch Alliance, climbed away from Space Launch Complex-2 at 1:47 a.m. after other attempts were foiled for various reasons.

The booster carried the first in a series of four satellites for the Joint Polar Satellite System, JPSS-1, built by Ball Aerospace and launched through a collaboration between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Spacecraft separation occurred approximately an hour after liftoff, leading to applause from ground crew members who were able to watch the critical milestone due to an on-board camera. A short time later, five CubeSats that hitched a ride on the mission also deployed successfully.

“Things went absolutely perfect today,” said Omar Baez, NASA launch manager.

JPSS-1, to be renamed NOAA-20, will undergo a three-month checkout period in space before becoming operational some 512 miles above Earth, officials said.

Officials have said the mission costs, including launch and satellite, add up to $1.6 billion.

The new satellite and its five advanced instruments will be welcome tools for a variety of purposes including spotting fires and volcanic eruptions, assessing floods and more.

“With such an active and extremely dangerous hurricane season we’ve recently encountered and the destructive wildfires we’ve seen around the planet, and particularly in California in the last year, JPSS-1 is arriving at just the right time,” said Steve Volz, director of NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service.

JPSS-1 will collect assorted data such as atmospheric observations of temperatures and water vapor information expected to help improve weather forecasts out to seven days, according to Mitch Goldberg, chief JPSS program scientist for NOAA.

Polar-orbiting weather satellites have headed to space from Vandenberg for decades, but JPSS-1 features the most advanced technology NOAA has ever flown.

“JPSS provides global atmospheric temperature and water vapor (data) to forecast models twice as fast than our old generation of satellites with six times the vertical resolution,” Goldberg said, adding the increased resolution will lead to forecast models with better data.

One of JPSS-1’s instruments, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite, or VIIRS, has ties to Santa Barbara County and Raytheon’s operations in Goleta. It will help spot information about fires, oil spills, sea ice, floods, smoke and more.

Another instrument, the Harris-built Cross-track Infrared Sounder, or CrIS, will have 2,200 measurements compared to 19 channels for the older system.

Global observations are critical because a small disturbance spotted in one area can hint of a hurricane a few days later.

Joe Pica, Office of Observations director for NOAA’s National Weather Service, said those who work at the agency were eagerly awaiting the new satellite.

During the recent hurricane season, forecasts helped leaders to prepare days in advance of storm arrivals, leading to fewer deaths than seen during previous events.

“This well-coordinated preparedness really depends on us being able to provide a sound confident forecast to those core partners,” Pica said. “Such forecasts are impossible without quality robust global data that’s provided from polar satellites, and JPSS-1 is joining that network of satellites that provides these observations that are the backbone of forecast process.”

This story was originally published November 18, 2017 at 2:40 PM with the headline "Delta II launches from Vandenberg carrying weather satellite into orbit."