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KBR has provided mission-critical space support services to NASA for several decades. More recently, we have furthered our long history with NASA and provided satellite engineering support for several space programs looking to improve our overall understanding of our planet and the universe we inhabit.

Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) / Ocean Color Instrument (OCI)

Launched on February 8, 2024, the PACE satellite serves to extend and improve NASA's long-term observations of global ocean biology, aerosols, and clouds. Through measuring the distribution of phytoplankton and collecting systematic records of key atmospheric variables associated with air quality and our planet’s climate, PACE’s data will help address new and emerging science questions with the use of its advanced instruments, surpassing the capabilities of previous missions.

As the primary payload on the PACE mission, the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) improves NASA's ability to assess ocean health and atmospheric variables associated with air quality and climate by revealing the diversity of organisms fueling marine food webs and how ecosystems respond to change.

The PACE spacecraft and OCI were designed, built, and tested at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), which KBR supports. Our involvement has been led by Dr. Ulrik Gliese, who started on the project in May 2015 and serves as the OCI Deputy Instrument Project Manager (Technical) and the PACE Instruments Commissioning Lead. As one of the key architects of the instrument, Dr. Gliese has spearheaded KBR’s participation in everything from concept studies to design, implementation, and testing of the optics, detectors, front-end electronics, focal planes, and data acquisition units, as well as instrument modeling work. 

“KBR has provided engineering expertise within many different disciplines for numerous aspects of PACE and OCI,” said Dr. Gliese. “It has been an immense privilege and an engineer/physicist’s dream to work on and contribute to such an important mission as PACE and complex instrument as OCI that will help generate profound scientific insight and have long lasting impact for our understanding of the world we inhabit.”

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES)-U

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) is a collaborative NOAA and NASA program that provides continuous imagery and data on atmospheric conditions and solar activity. Launched on June 25, 2024, the fourth and final satellite in the series, the GOES-U satellite is the only system providing advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements, real-time mapping of lightning activity, and space weather observations of the Western Hemisphere. Its data will lead to more accurate and timely weather forecasts, as well as help create a better understanding of the dynamics between land, the atmosphere, oceans, and the climate. 

Building on its continued support of the GOES program over the years, KBR has actively provided mechanical team support for GOES-U through critical assembly operations, testing, instrument assembly and integration, launch site operations, and other key functions. In all, KBR has supported six GOES contracts: 

• Safety & Mission Assurance, Audits, and Assessments II (SMA3 II): KBR had personnel onsite at Lockheed Martin Space Systems (LMSS) for the GOES-R series and supported Astrotech for the final integration and launch. KBR has also conducted several supplier assessments at LMSS over the program's life in support of the GSFC Supply Chain Leads.
• GOES-R Series Ground Segment Project / Geostationary Ground Sustainment Services (GGSS): KBR provides sustaining support to the GOES Ground Systems, Mission Rehearsal (MR), and Launch and On-orbit Rehearsal (LOR), as well as console support of the ground equipment during launch operations.
• Systems Engineering Advanced Services II (SEAS II): For GOES-U Program Systems Engineering, KBR personnel authored the final Systems Engineering Management Plan, oversaw final Program Level 1 and 2 Requirements Verifications, and led all program level lifecycle technical reviews since the program's inception.
• Space Science Instruments and Experimental Payloads (SSIEP): KBR has been awardedSSIEP contracts to develop space science instrument systems at the Naval Research Lab (NRL) since 2015. As part of this support, KBR has assisted the development, detailed design and analysis, fabrication, assembly, and testing of the CCOR-1 instrument—the first compact and operational coronagraph—and its integration into the GOES-U Solar Pointing Platform. Going forward, KBR will continue providing personnel, equipment, and facilities to support engineering and research activities for the Navy's Space Science Division over the next five years.
• Mechanical Integrated Services and Technology (MIST) I & II: KBR’s role in the GOES program under the MIST I/II contract was to provide independent oversight of the requirements, design, analysis, and testing of the instruments and spacecraft structure assembly that would together constitute the GOES-R Observatory. The GOES-R series includes four spacecrafts—the last of which, GOES-U, was launched in June 2024.
• Ground Systems and Mission Operations (GSMO): Under the GSMO contracts, KBR has provided satellite engineering support to the GOES-R Program and GOES-R Series ground system, as well as technical support for the management, analysis, design, integration and test, deployment, operations, and maintenance of GOES-R Series Ground Segment hardware and software. In addition, KBR has assisted with the design, implementation, and evaluation of all phases of mission security and information assurance; supplied radio frequency analysis for implementing spacecraft-to-ground communications; provided data algorithm development and support to the science community; staffed the National Weather Service Total Operational Weather Readiness for Satellites Team; and supported overall ground operations management and staffing for the ongoing operations of the GOES-16 through 19 satellites.