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Goddard Engineering and Technology Directorate

FDF Supports the Launch and Commissioning of PACE

The Falcon 9 Launch of PACE on 2/8/2024.
NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, successfully lifts off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 1:33 a.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 8. PACE is NASA’s newest earth-observing satellite that will help increase our understanding of Earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and climate by delivering hyperspectral observations of microscopic marine organisms called phytoplankton, as well new data on clouds and aerosols.

Early morning on February 8th, 2024, the PACE spacecraft launched aboard a Space-X Falcon-9 Rocket, with the Flight Dynamics Facility (FDF) fully staffed to provide critical support.

FDF provided primary navigation solutions for the spacecraft during the first 30 days of flight while the GPS receiver and on-board instruments went through commissioning. FDF uses both Direct-to-Earth (DTE) and Space Relay (SR) NSN tracking sources to perform Orbit Determination (OD). Additionally, the FDF stood-up a special dedicated support from the FDF Launch Vehicle team to process real-time data coming from the Falcon-9, even though the NSN was not providing tracking support to the rocket. With this real-time stream of data, FDF would be able to immediately update NSN tracking assets should the PACE spacecraft end up in an off-nominal orbit. While this support contingency wasn’t necessary for this mission, it provides insurance and is an added benefit of FDF’s support to NASA’s robotics missions.

In addition, the FDF also provides routine evaluation of NSN tracking assets in order to ensure that they are meeting specification for accurate navigation solutions. On February 14th, the FDF discovered that the four DTE stations tracking PACE were using an incorrect downlink frequency, causing a range-rate bias within the navigation solution. Due to FDF’s close relationship with the Network, FDF was able to identify these biases quickly and account for them in OD solutions such that it did not impact navigation operations. The station personnel were contacted by FDF and have since corrected those biases such that those stations will provide accurate navigation data regardless of the mission. FDF’s value to NASA is greater than the sum of its individual parts, and is a core capability within the agency.