Space Systems Command Sends BAE Systems Weather Satellite Into Orbit

BAE Systems has announced the launch of the Weather System Follow-on Microwave satellite that its newly acquired company, Ball Aerospace, earlier delivered to the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command. 

Sent into orbit via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Thursday, the satellite will provide environmental monitoring data to help U.S. warfighters worldwide conduct missions safely. 

The real-time data that the spacecraft’s microwave imager has the capability to deliver, including ocean wind velocity and tropical cyclone intensity, will bridge critical gaps in current space-based Earth environment monitoring, BAE Systems said Thursday.

The WSF-M satellite also features a government-made Energetic Charged Particle sensor for the detection of space weather conditions that trigger spacecraft anomalies. 

Aside from the Ball Aerospace satellite, BAE Systems is also behind the design and construction of the spacecraft’s satellite bus. In addition, the company worked with the Naval Research Laboratory’s Blossom Point Tracking Facility to develop the WSF-M’s ground system.

Through Ball Aerospace, whose acquisition was completed in February, BAE will build a second WSF-M, which is expected for delivery in 2026.