JPSS-2/LOFTID LAUNCH, Nov 10, 2022, Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA, 4:25 am ET

Update, November 3:  ULA just announced that the launch has been delayed for another day. Now scheduled for Nov. 10 at 1:25 am Pacific Time (4:25 am Eastern). NASA TV coverage will begin at 3:45 am ET.

(Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Nov. 3, 2022) – The launch of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket carrying the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS)-2 civilian polar-orbiting weather satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) is planned for Thurs., Nov. 10 at 1:25 a.m. PST.

Update, October 29:  The launch has been delayed until November 9, 2022, pending range availability, because a battery in ULA’s Centaur upper stage must be replaced.  The time was not announced.

Original Entry: NASA and NOAA announced on May 31, 2022 that the launch of the second Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS-2) will be delayed to November 1, 2022 because of a problem that occurred during testing one of the instruments, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). The issue was with the test set-up, not the instrument itself.

Launching along with JPSS-2 on the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas-V rocket is NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID), dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter.

LOFTID is a demonstration of a hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator (HIAD), or aeroshell, technology that could one day help land humans on Mars. After reaching orbit, LOFTID will detach from the Atlas V Centeaur upper stage, inflate, and descend back to Earth to demonstrate how the inflatable heat shield can slow a spacecraft to a soft landing.

ULA is also interested in this technology for use someday with its soon-to-debut Vulcan rocket to enable reuse of its BE-4 engines. ULA has a no-exchange-of-funds Space Act Agreement with NASA to work with the agency on this technology demonstration, including integrating it with the Atlas V second stage and providing the recovery ship to retrieve LOFTID from the ocean near Hawaii where it will splashdown. NASA did pay ULA for launch services for JPSS-2, but ULA says the costs associated with the LOFTID demonstration came from internal funds.

The launch is from Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA. On November 1, the launch window opens at 2:25 am Pacific Time (5:25 Eastern).  NASA TV coverage will begin at 1:45 am Pacific (4:45 am Eastern).

The launch window is open for 36 minutes.