GDMS will be responsible for the development and operation of the Landsat 9 Mission Operations Center (MOC) as well as assuming operations of the on-orbit Landsat 8 observatory.
The MOC provides command and control of the Landsat 9 satellite, including planning and scheduling of satellite operations as well as health and status monitoring of both the satellite and its related ground operation systems.
The MOC will be physically located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
The $150,000,000 contract was awarded to GDMS by USGS for up to 10 years of contract performance.
Jim Nelson, the USGS Landsat 9 Project Manager commented that, “This really is a turning point for the USGS in the Landsat program in terms of multi-mission operations. The multi-mission contract structure provides an excellent opportunity to combine systems, combine teams, and move to a point where we can efficiently operate Landsat as a fleet instead of as unique missions.”
Landsat 9 is a joint project of USGS and NASA. NASA is responsible for the space segment development and launch; USGS is responsible for the ground segment development, mission operations, and data distribution and archiving.
Further information:
+ General Dynamics Awarded New Landsat Contract by U.S. Geological Survey, General Dynamics
Above the Earth, Below the Surface: Landsat’s Role in Monitoring Water Quality
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Safeguarding freshwater resources is crucial, and while scientists use a variety of ground-based techniques to gauge water quality, the Landsat program has provided water quality data from orbit for decades.
