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EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—Raytheon, an RTX business, has completed the preliminary design review for NASA’s Landsat Next Instrument Suite (LandIS), a milestone that validated the technical approach and engineering design of its instruments, algorithms, and imager.
The company is supplying multiple elements for the program, including the multispectral imager, engineering analyses, algorithms, fabrication, testing, and support. Raytheon said its imager will more than double the current spatial resolution and, as a superspectral instrument, collect twice the number of spectral bands to deliver higher-quality data to users.
Planned uses for the enhanced data include assessing water quality and aquatic health, optimizing crop production and soil conservation, managing and monitoring forests, and supporting research on climate and snow dynamics.
“By leveraging proven Raytheon technology and innovative design practices, we’re delivering a solution that is on schedule, cost-effective and highly reliable,” said Jeff McCall, vice president of Mission Solutions & Payloads at Raytheon. “Our instrument suite is built with a high level of technical maturity, ensuring it will meet the mission’s rigorous demands.”
Raytheon has supported the Landsat mission since the 1970s, including instruments for Landsat missions 2 through 7. The first LandIS sensor is expected to be delivered in 2028. Landsat Next is intended to preserve the longest-running satellite record of Earth’s land surface while significantly enhancing the quality and scope of freely available, actionable data for users.
