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Landsat 8 (LDCM) History

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Figure 1. Landsat 8

Participants

NASA
Department of the Interior (DOI) U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Spacecraft bus: Orbital Science Corp.
Operational Land Imager Sensor: Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
Thermal Infrared Sensors: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Launch

Date: February 11, 2013
Vehicle: Atlas-V rocket
Launched by: NASA
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

Spacecraft

3.14 terabit solid-state data recorder
Power provided by a single 9 x 0.4 meter solar array and one 125 Ampere-Hour (AHr), Nickel-Hydrogen (NiH2) battery
Weight: 2,071 kg (4,566 lbs) fully loaded with fuel (without instruments)
Length: 3 m (9.8 ft)
Diameter: 2.4 m (7.9 ft)

Communications

Direct Downlink with Solid State Recorders (SSR)
Data rate: 384 Mbps on X-band frequency; 260.92 Mbps on S-band frequency

Orbit

Worldwide Reference System-2 (WRS-2) path/row system
Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 705 km (438 mi)
233 orbit cycle; covers the entire globe every 16 days (except for the highest polar latitudes)
Inclined 98.2° (slightly retrograde)
Circles the Earth every 98.9 minutes
Equatorial crossing time: 10:00 a.m. +/- 15 minutes

Sensors

Operational Land Imager (OLI)

Nine spectral bands, including a pan band:
- Band 1 Visible (0.433 - 0.453 µm) 30 m
- Band 2 Visible (0.450 - 0.515 µm) 30 m
- Band 3 Visible (0.525 - 0.600 µm) 30 m
- Band 4 Near-Infrared (0.630 - 0.680 µm) 30 m
- Band 5 Near-Infrared (0.845 - 0.885 µm) 30 m
- Band 6 SWIR 1(1.560 - 1.660 µm) 30 m
- Band 7 SWIR 2 (2.100 - 2.300 µm) 30 m
- Band 8 Panchromatic (PAN) (0.500 - 0.680 µm) 15 m
- Band 9 Cirrus (1.360 - 1.390 µm) 30 m

Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS)

Two spectral bands:
- Band 10 TIRS 1 (10.3 - 11.3 µm) 100 m
- Band 11 TIRS 2 (11.5 - 12.5 µm) 100 m

Figure 2. OLI and TIRS sensors mounted on LDCM spacecraft. TIRS is covered with gold-hued Multi-layer Insulation, and OLI is covered with white Tedlar insulation.

Other Characteristics

Scene size: 170 km x 185 km (106 mi x 115 mi)
Design Life: Minimum of 5 years

http://ldcm.nasa.gov/spacecraft_instruments.html

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) is the next-generation Landsat satellite and will be launched no earlier than February 11, 2013. The LDCM will ensure the continued acquisition and availability of Landsat-like data beyond the duration of the current Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 missions.

The LDCM was created in October 2002 to investigate and research options for the most feasible solution to follow the Landsat 7 mission. Four options were considered:

A commercial enterprise (which was met with a lack of industry interest).
A commercial/government partnership (which was cancelled in 2003 due to inappropriate risk balancing).
International partnerships (which continue to develop and mature for possible future collaborations).
A government-only mission.

The original LDCM plans called for NASA to purchase data meeting LDCM specifications from a commercially owned and operated satellite system. (Option 2 above) However, after an evaluation of proposals received from industry, NASA cancelled the Request for Proposals in September 2003. In August 2004, a memorandum from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) directed Federal agencies to place Landsat-type sensors on the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) platform.

Following an evaluation of the technical complexity of this task, the strategy was adjusted and on December 23, 2005, a memorandum from the OSTP directed planning to begin for a free-flyer government-only mission, carrying the Operational Land Imager (OLI). In December 2009 a decision was made to add a thermal infrared sensor (TIRS) to the mission payload.

NASA leads the work on building the flight segment, securing launch services, flight ground systems integration, and conducting on-orbit initialization and verification. After launch checkout processes, the USGS will be responsible for the operations of this mission, which include collecting, archiving, processing, and distributing data products.

Milestones (Key Decision Points) of LDCM

To date, a number of Key Decision Points have been achieved:

September 2008: LDCM KDP-B. This milestone occurred following a successful series of concept and technology development activities whereby the feasibility of the mission concept was measured, system requirements were generated and independently reviewed, and an Initial Confirmation Review was successfully held with NASA Headquarters.

December 2009: LDCM KDP-C. This milestone occurred following a successful series of system and mission preliminary design activities whereby an initial baseline capable of meeting mission needs (requirements) was established. KDP-C was declared following a successful Mission Confirmation Review held for NASA Headquarters

October 2011: LDCM KDP-D. This milestone occurred following a successful series of system and mission critical design activities, whereby the detailed design of the entire system was completed and successfully fabricated, including all hardware, software, and operational components. KDP-D was declared following a successful Mission Integration Review held for the LDCM Standing Review Board.

January 22, 2013: Safety and Mission Success Review (SMSR) at NASA HQ.

January 23, 2013: Fairing Encapsulation. The LDCM spacecraft was successfully placed into the payload fairing of the Atlas-V rocket that will carry the instrument into space.

January 25, 2013: Transport to Launch Pad. The payload fairing was transported to Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

January 30, 2013: LDCM KDP-E. This milestone occurred following successful system assembly, integration and test. Prior to KDP-E, the project must demonstrate high confidence that the LDCM will be able to meet system requirements, conduct launch and early orbit operations, and meet operational performance expectations. KDP-E will be declared following a successful Flight Readiness Review held for the LDCM Standing Review Board.

February 6: Flight Readiness Review (FRR). This review will be held at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The FRR will consist of audits and examinations of all flight and ground hardware, software, personnel, and procedures to ensure all are ready to proceed into operations.

February 7, 2013: Mission Dress Rehearsal. A launch dress rehearsal is done in preparation for the upcoming mission and provides all team members an opportunity to participate in simulated countdown activities.

February 8, 2013: Launch Readiness Review (LRR). This review will be held at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

February 11, 2013: Spacecraft Launch. LDCM will launch from Space Launch Complex 3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, USA, on Monday, February 11, 2013. Launch time is set for 10:02 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, with a launch window of 48 minutes.

These upcoming milestones are anticipated:

February 11-14, 2013: Landsat Science Team Meeting. The meetings will be held in support and in conjunction of the LDCM launch.

April 2013: LDCM Initial Operating Capability (IOC). This will follow the successful completion of the LDCM on-orbit commissioning phase whereby LDCM is prepared for normal and routine operations. IOC will be declared following a successful Post-Launch Assessment Review (PLAR) and Operational Readiness Review (ORR).

A Landsat Science Team was established to address the science goals of the mission. NASA and the USGS plan to implement LDCM in a manner that does not preclude a long-term solution for continuity of Landsat-type data.

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), specifics of the mission are source selection sensitive. Information will be released as appropriate on this page.

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