WASHINGTON - The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) needed its first hyperspectral imager for its Earth observation satellite. They found their solution form Raytheon Technologies (RTX) in Arlington County, Virginia.
RTX said that its Geostationary Littoral Imaging and Monitoring Radiometer (GLIMR) has completed its critical design review and is now in the build and test phase of the program.
GLIMR will collect and process information from across the electromagnetic spectrum, including visible light, infrared and ultraviolet frequencies, to create a highly detailed view of physical and biological conditions in coastal waters.
"GLIMR will help enable us to better study our planet's oceans," said David Broadbent, president of Space Systems at Raytheon. "With this new capability, we'll be able to better track coral bleaching, chlorophyl and plankton health, oil spills and Harmful Algal Blooms, otherwise known as red tide."
The instrument will provide high-sensitivity, high-spatial and high-temporal resolution measurements of coastal and ocean ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico, parts of the southeastern U.S. coastline and the Amazon River plume. Decision-makers will use GLIMR data to respond rapidly to natural and manmade coastal water disasters, such as harmful algae blooms and oil spills. It will also help improve the coastal ecosystem's sustainability and resource management.
Raytheon also recently completed their final review for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Extended Observations satellite system, or GeoXO, and is taking lessons learned from GLIMR to design the next generation operational weather satellite payload that will launch in 2032.
The University of New Hampshire is NASA's lead organization for the GLIMR contract, led by principal investigator Dr. Joseph Salisbury, with a team of scientists from partnering universities, NOAA and NASA. The instrument will launch in the 2026-2027 timeframe, and its data will be available soon after to scientists, researchers and educators around the world.
