SAN FRANCISCO — Firefly Aerospace won a contract to launch Quicksounder, a prototype for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s next-generation of environmental satellites in low-Earth orbit. The value of the award was not disclosed.
NASA awarded the contract to Texas-based Firefly on behalf of NOAA through the Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract. Through VADR, NASA awards fixed-price contracts for satellite launches.
QuickSounder is the first element of NOAA’s Near Earth Orbit Network (NEON), a new generation of polar-orbiting weather satellites. The mission is intended to gather weather data for many organizations including the National Weather Service.
The Southwest Research Institute is building the QuickSounder satellite to house an Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder engineering development unit refurbished by manufacturer Northrop Grumman. QuickSounder is scheduled to launch no earlier than February 2026.
NOAA is working with NASA to speed up development of small and medium-sized satellites to supply data for weather forecasting, disaster management and climate monitoring. NASA will manage the development and launch of the satellites. NOAA will provide funding and technical requirements, and manage post-launch operations.
VADR is a fixed-price indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with a five-year ordering period and a maximum total value across all contracts of $300 million.
Debra Werner is a correspondent for SpaceNews based in San Francisco.
Debra earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. She…
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