Intelsat starts monitoring rush-hour pollution for NASA

Specifically, the company has powered up the first space-based instrument to monitor major air pollutants across North America and send data back to earth as part of the first phase of in-orbit testing, it reports.

The UV-visible spectrometer, operated by Intelsat for NASA and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO), is hosted on the Maxar-manufactured Intelsat 40e (IS-40e) satellite, pictured above. This was launched in April – on a SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket – and is now operating in its final geostationary orbit location.

Dubbed TEMPO (Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring Pollution), the mission’s data will help scientific studies of phenomena such as rush-hour pollution and the movement of emissions from forest fires and volcanoes. You can read more about TEMPO here.

“The Intelsat communications and ground system is working seamlessly as we start sending commands to TEMPO and receiving data,” said Jean-Luc Froeliger, Intelsat’s Senior VP of Space Systems. “Working closely with our partners, the rigorous testing is on schedule with the next milestone coming in July when we start to receive high-resolution data and images.”

Drying out

For the next stage, Intelsat has turned on heaters to dry out the instrument and extract any moisture that accumulated on the ground before the April launch. Periodic data is being transmitted during this time.

When the instrument has then been cooled down to operational temperatures the next phase of system testing will begin. According to Intelsat, the early data that NASA and SAO scientists collect this summer will allow them to adjust settings to optimize TEMPO’s performance before routine operations start in October.

Merger

Back in April, following market speculation, SES Satellites confirmed the company was considering a merger with Intelsat, we reported. The Luxembourg-based satellite telecommunications provider issued a short statement saying ongoing talks were exploratory.

The wider context for the talks can be seen as Eutelsat’s takeover of OneWeb, and Viasat buying Inmarsat.

It was only in February 2022 that Intelsat officially completed its almost two-year-long financial restructuring process, having filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2020. The reorganisation saw the company reduce its debt by more than half, from approximately $16 billion to $7 billion.

Images: Intelsat (top), NASA SAO (bottom)

See also: UKSA backs MicroCarb atmospheric CO2 monitoring satellite