Space industry executives yesterday warned of coverage gaps in weather and earth observation satellite systems as time runs out to avert
budget sequestration.
During a Capitol Hill press briefing held by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) trade group, representatives from Lockheed Martin [LMT], ITT Exelis [XLS] and Ball Aerospace [BLL] all touted the value that the space systems they help develop bring to society. The briefing was the first of three AIA scheduled to bolster its position to highlight the adverse impacts of sequestration, the decade-long cuts of $1.2 trillion to defense and non-defense spending scheduled to take place Friday.
The gap between the NASA’s Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite’s end life and the launch of its successor, the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), is a key example, according to AIA. The Suomi NPP is one of three polar orbiting satellites that provide essential data for forecasts three days into the future. Should the Suomi NPP stop functioning at the end of its expected design life in 2016, AIA said JPSS will not be available to take over until at least 17 months later.
“It’s more than just a pretty picture,” Ball Aerospace Director for Weather and Environment Cory Springer said about quantitative monitoring yesterday. “It actually provides vital information that people can use to give a better understand of the living earth and allow us to make accurate predictions and forecasts about the future state of the atmosphere, the earth and the ocean.”
Springer said the Navy first discussed the environment before every operation and exercise, highlighting the importance of these satellites. He said he spent almost 25 years in the Navy as an operational oceanographer and meteorologist.
“From a national security perspective, earth observation is crucial to everything (the Navy does),” Springer said, because the Navy needs to understand what is happening both at the sea surface, under the sea surface, in the atmosphere and in space to conduct operations safely and effectively.
AIA outlined how it believes space systems help improve lives and how space capabilities require steady policy support and stable long-term investments in its November report, Space in Our World. AIA said these satellites not only help predict devastating weather systems that can cost lives, but they help the military through missile warning and Global Positioning System (GPS) timing and positioning as well as creating and enhancing commercial markets through television programming and satellite communications.
AIA in its report made numerous recommendations, among them stable funding and steady policy support from the government so existing observation satellite systems can replenish. AIA also recommended continued government investment in Defense Department and intelligence community space systems and government pursuit of cost-effective launch service strategies. DoD in January opened up its Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program to competition to help drive down costs (Defense Daily, Dec. 3). EELV capability was once limited to United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing [BA], but Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) and Orbital Sciences [ORB] have been developing new space launch capabilities. EELV is a program to ensure DoD access to space. SpaceX was awarded two EELV-class missions in December (Defense Daily, Dec. 6).
EELV is a program to ensure DoD access to space.