SpaceX, ULA win NASA contracts to launch Earth observation satellites

NASA has selected SpaceX and United Launch Alliance to deliver to orbit a joint U.S.-European oceanography mission and the next land imaging satellite in the Landsat series on Falcon 9 and Atlas 5 rockets. The space agency announced the contracts Thursday, splitting awards between the two U.S. companies certified to launch NASA’s large robotic space missions. NASA’s Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center made the selections after separate competitive procurements. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will loft the next satellite in a line of oceanography missions extending back to 1992. Known as Sentinel 6A, or Jason Continuity of Service (Jason-CS), the satellite will measure sea level and wave height on the world’s oceans... More

(Source: SapceFlight Now - Oct 25)