The five primary instruments for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-1, the next civilian-operated U.S. polar-orbiting weather satellite, have entered environmental testing, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

The tests, in which the JPSS instruments will be subject to space-like conditions, are set to wrap up by early 2015, NOAA spokesman John Leslie wrote in a Feb. 25 email. The instruments will then be shipped to JPSS-1 satellite manufacturer Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo. 

Launch is slated for early 2017 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. 

The instruments are: 

  • The Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder, built by Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems of Linthicum, Md.
     
  • The Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite, also built by Ball.
     
  • The Cross-track Infrared Sounder, built by Exelis of McLean, Va.
     
  • The Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System, being built by Northrop Grumman for NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.
     
  • The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite, built by Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems of El Segundo, Calif.