General Atomics Unit Secures Contract Modification to Deliver Second EWS Satellite

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems will support a U.S. Space Force unit advancing the development of a second weather satellite for the federal government.

On Thursday, GA-EMS announced that it had received a modification to an existing Space Systems Command contract to design and deliver an operational Electro-Optical Infrared Weather System spacecraft with integrated electro-optical infrared payloads, supporting the transition to a new generation of more affordable, smaller weather satellites.

Under the deal, the company will collaborate with Atmospheric and Environmental Research for the project’s weather-related components and Parsons for enterprise ground station command and control and operations support, GA said.

Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS, said the service branch exercising the option is a testament to the company’s expertise in producing advanced EWS satellites capable of offering timely, accurate weather data to organizations that need it.

GA-EMS started working on the initiative in 2020 when the Space Force asked the company and two other businesses to produce a prototype EWS satellite. In 2022, It eventually won the original contract with Orion Space Solutions.