BAE Systems’ prototype payload was successfully integrated onto the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a mission to demonstrate improvements in atmospheric temperature profiling and environmental monitoring capabilities, among other missions and technologies.  

The payload launched in collaboration with the ISS National Laboratory and Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, Inc., which supplied the hardware facility for the mission. The payload arrived safely to the ISS as part of a NASA commercial resupply mission, where it was integrated onto the station with the help of astronauts onboard. The payload is functioning as planned. 

The payload features several different instruments and sub-systems, including a radio frequency sounder that will measure temperatures at different altitudes throughout the Earth’s atmosphere, providing next-generation capabilities with applications in hurricane modeling and weather forecasting at a fraction of the size of existing systems. It also includes a dual band short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) camera that will be used to demonstrate low-cost environmental monitoring capabilities. 

“Our team was able to assemble, integrate, and test this payload in just eight months,” said Steve Smith, vice president of Engineering, Science & Analysis for BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems. “This effort highlights our ability to meet our customers’ need for affordable and rapid advancement of on-orbit technologies, along with driving the maturation of software solutions that can be used for a myriad of functions.” 

In addition to the payload’s scientific instruments, the mission will include Space & Mission Systems’ Linux-based software that features real-time data processing and containerized applications that can be changed on orbit. BAE Systems also collaborated with Microsoft Azure Space to demonstrate the jointly developed onboard mission data processing system and Seagate Federal to demonstrate onboard mass storage capabilities. 

The mission is scheduled to last for one year. Once completed, the payload will be removed from the ISS and returned to Earth where BAE Systems engineers and scientists will analyze it to understand how it was impacted by the space environment. 

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