SAN DIEGO. General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) announced on February 18 that it has awarded a contract to Firefly Aerospace Inc. to launch a GA-EMS developed Orbital Test Bed (OTB) satellite carrying NASA’s Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) instrument. The launch vehicle delivering the satellite to space will be Firefly’s Alpha rocket and is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2022.

“Firefly’s Alpha rocket meets all technical and performance requirements to launch GA-EMS’ OTB spacecraft with the MAIA instrument as the primary payload on a rideshare mission,” stated Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “By leveraging Firefly’s inventive launch capabilities with our novel approach to satellite design and development, GA-EMS is able to assure our customers keep pace with the demand to launch missions like MAIA to advance NASA’s Earth Science research goals.”

MAIA’s planned three year on-orbit operation will measure airborne particulate matter in the atmosphere to allow team members to correlate MAIA’s measurements with adverse human health issues such as cardiovascular and respiratory disease, initially focused on 12 primary target areas around the world. MAIA is a Venture-class mission within NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder Program at the agency’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA is responsible for the MAIA instrument design, development, and delivery.

“We are honored to have been selected by GA-EMS to launch this important NASA science payload,” said Dr. Tom Markusic, Firefly chief executive officer. “The Firefly team and our industry partners look forward to supporting GA-EMS on this exciting mission. The MAIA payload is a perfect example of people all around the world directly benefiting from a leading-edge space mission.”