SwRI to build Space Weather Follow-On L1 for NOAA

On behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA has awarded the Space Weather Follow-On Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) Magnetometer contract to Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) based in San Antonio, Texas.

This is a cost-plus, fixed-fee contract with a total value of $12,862,664. The period of performance is 75 months.

SwRI will design, analyze, develop, fabricate, integrate, test, calibrate and evaluate the magnetometer instrument that consists of two three-axis magnetometers and associated electronics that will be used to measure the vector interplanetary magnetic field.

SwRI will also support launch and on-orbit check-out of the instrument, supply and maintain the instrument Ground Support Equipment and support the Mission Operations Center through mission hand-over to NOAA.

The work will be performed at SwRI in San Antonio, Texas, and at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

The SWFO-L1 satellite, which is planned to launch in 2024 as a rideshare on the NASA IMAP, will collect upstream solar wind data and coronal imagery to support NOAA's mission to monitor and forecast space weather events.

NOAA is responsible for the Space Weather Follow-On program. NASA is the program's flight system procurement agent, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the lead for acquisition.