RTX said its Raytheon business has completed the design review for the Landsat Next Instrument Suite, the sensor package being developed for NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey’s next Earth-observing mission. The review clears the program to continue toward building the spacecraft instruments after the company won a $506 million contract in 2024 to design and build the suite.
Landsat Next will use three identical satellites in low Earth orbit to observe the planet’s land surface. According to RTX, the system is intended to collect imagery every six days and improve on previous Landsat missions with higher spatial, temporal and spectral resolution. The instruments are designed to support monitoring of water quality, crop production, soil conservation, forest management, mineral mapping and climate impacts.
The first sensor delivery is expected in 2028, and work on the contract is being carried out in El Segundo, California.