Firefly Aerospace, a leading space transportation company, has been awarded a contract by NASA to launch the QuickSounder environmental satellite on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This momentous mission, slated for launch in 2026 on Firefly’s Alpha rocket, represents the inaugural project supporting NOAA’s ambitious Near Earth Orbit Network (NEON) program.
The NEON program signifies a paradigm shift in environmental satellite technology. It aims to establish a resilient constellation of low Earth orbit satellites, capable of rapid deployment and equipped with advanced Earth-observing instruments. This network will revolutionize the nation’s weather forecasting capabilities, bolster disaster management strategies, and provide crucial data for climate change monitoring.
At the heart of this groundbreaking mission is the QuickSounder satellite, developed by the Southwest Research Institute. This satellite will carry NOAA’s Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) instrument, a crucial tool for gathering vital data about Earth’s atmosphere. The ATMS instrument will provide crucial information regarding atmospheric temperature and moisture within a mere 30 minutes of data collection, significantly enhancing NOAA’s weather prediction models for critical events like fires, floods, and droughts.
The QuickSounder mission will be launched from Firefly’s SLC-2 launch site at the Vandenberg Space Force Base, marking Firefly’s second Alpha launch for NASA. Firefly’s Alpha rocket stands as the only commercially operational launch vehicle specifically designed to serve the one-metric ton satellite market. This flight-proven vehicle guarantees responsive, reliable, and cost-effective launch services, directly delivering customers’ payloads to their desired orbits.
Firefly Aerospace’s commitment to providing comprehensive space transportation services extends beyond launch capabilities. The company offers a full suite of solutions, including lunar and on-orbit services. Headquartered in central Texas, Firefly is a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners and is dedicated to delivering affordable and reliable space access for both government and commercial customers. The company’s small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles empower the space industry with a single source for missions, spanning from low Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon and beyond.
