The Northrop Grumman [NOC]-led engineering team building the Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS) spacecraft continues to take delivery of key hardware, making significant progress on satellite fabrication several months ahead of schedule, the company said this week.
According to a press release, the first flight shipset of GPS receivers has been delivered from General Dynamics [GD]. Flight hardware assemblies key to the operation of the satellite’s communications links were delivered from Tesat-Spacecom, Backnang, Germany.
Essential propulsion hardware is slated to be delivered later this year. It includes fill and drain valves from VACCO, El Monte, Calif., and pressure transducers from Tavis, Mariposa, Calif.
Timely completion of DWSS is essential to maintain continuity with the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), which has been delivering weather data for military use since the mid-1960s. DWSS will provide near-real-time information about weather and environmental conditions around the world to inform aviation, naval, and coastal marine operations and land assets. DWSS will also provide the capability to monitor space environmental conditions.