Ball Aerospace Concludes WSF-M Satellite Testing

Ball Aerospace has tested the Weather System Follow-on – Microwave satellite, designed to enhance the Department of Defense’s space-based environmental monitoring capabilities.

As prime contractor for the WSF-M project, Ball designed, built and integrated the spacecraft bus, ground data processing software and the Microwave Imager instrument that will collect environmental data at multiple frequencies. The satellite will also host a government-built energetic charged particle sensor that will provide space weather measurements in low-Earth orbit.

WSF-M will measure key environmental parameters, including ocean winds, storm intensity, ice thickness and soil moisture. It will be delivered to the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command, Ball said Thursday.

The conclusion of the test comes months after Ball completed the spacecraft bus for the first WSF-M in January. The contractor also secured a $78.2 million Space Force contract to develop a second WSF-M satellite.

The weather measurement instruments are designed to replace the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, which went into service in the 1960s. The first satellite si slated for launch in 2026 while the second spacecraft will be sent to orbit in 2028.