SpaceX wins $ 152 million contract with NASA to launch series of weather satellites for environmental mission

NASA has chosen SpaceX to launch meteorological satellites as part of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) mission.

The agency announced the partnership on Friday, which involves a $ 152.5 million contract.

According to NASA, the GOES-U mission will provide advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements of the weather, oceans and environment of planet Earth.

It will also involve real-time mapping of total lightning activity and better monitoring of solar activity.

The move comes after the United Launch Alliance (ULA) withdrew its offer because it no longer had the vehicles available to launch the satellites, Space News reported.

ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye told Space News: “All of the remaining 29 rockets have been sold to customers for future launches, so we had to withdraw our offer for the GOES-U launch service. from NASA. “

The launch is scheduled to take place in April 2024 from Launch Complex 29A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket.

The GOES-U award comes in addition to the growing number of Falcon Heavy launches for SpaceX.

In July, NASA selected SpaceX to launch a spacecraft to Jupiter’s moon Europa. The Europa Clipper aims to search for signs of alien aquatic life in an underground ocean, Insider’s Morgan McFall-Johnsen reported.

SpaceX also got a contract from rocket company Astrobotic to send a new water-hunting rover to the moon’s unexplored south pole.

On Wednesday, SpaceX is sending civilians who are not professional astronauts on a mission to orbit the Earth. The Inspiration4 mission involves a crew of four, consisting of a billionaire, a medical assistant, an engineer and a scientist.

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