Spanning five decades, the Landsat series of Earth-observing satellites has deep roots in Santa Barbara County beyond being the place where they were launched into space.
Landsat 9, the newest entry in the joint program between NASA and the U.S. Geologoical Survey, is set to head into orbit at 11:12 a.m. Monday aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base.
In addition to launching from the Central Coast, its sibling satellites — the first Landsat launched in 1972 — carried instruments and technology designed and built by employees of the now disbanded Santa Barbara Research Center.
The storied history of the Earth-observation program and others connected to SBRC was captured in a book, Santa Barbara Research Center: A Tribute and A Legacy, by retired engineer Diane Sova.
The company, which was founded in 1958, “had such technology and actual genius,” inspiring Sova to collect the stories into a book.
“Even though our company’s been closed, the technology our company introduced and our people put together is still contributing to the world today,” Sova told Noozhawk. “It’s just amazing.”
SBRC supplied a key instrument on each of the early Landsat spacecraft, initially the Multispectral Scanner System, or MSS, and later the Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus.
“Santa Barbara Research Center really formed the basis of success and progress for the course of the Landsat series, starting from Landsat 1 with the revolutionary Multispectral Scanner to the Enhanced Thematic Mapper-Plus,” said Steve Covington, systems director with The Aerospace Corporation and a principal systems engineer for USGS’ National Land Imaging Program.
With work on the instruments beginning years before launch, the firm’s technology has encompassed more than 50 years and still operates aboard Landsat 7, which launched in 1999 and is set to be decommissioned within months.
“That’ll represent the first time since the first launch of Landsat 1 that a Santa Barbara instrument hasn’t been a central part of the operation,” Covington added. “So it’s really pretty incredible.”
SBRC employees on Landsat programs had the chance to watch their work head into space since all the missions launched from their backyard, Vandenberg.
This meant experiencing the emotional highs and lows of the launch business. Landsat 6 failed to reach orbit and likely ended up in the Indian Ocean in 1993.
“When Landsat 7 finally launched we cried,” Sova recalled.
Working on the programs was daunting due to the number of components that need to be perfect so the mission can occur.
“The relief of seeing it work and seeing it all come together is indescribable, to know that you had a part in it,” Sova said.
SBRC, a subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft Co., was acquired by Raytheon.
“The talent, experience and technical genius of the SBRC/SBRS team was scattered to the winds,” Sova wrote in her book. “One small company became a team that made giant leaps in technology, for aerospace and for our world, gone forever, overtaken by politics and economics. Our hearts were broken.”
At the peak, SBRC had between 2,600 and 2,800 employees, she said, with locations in Goleta and at one time, Santa Maria.
Landsat was just one small piece of SBRC’s vast history.
The firm supplied vital instruments flying on other NASA missions, including the Terra and Aqua satellites along with weather satellites.
In addition to civil space, SBRC worked on military programs, many top secret at the time and some since declassified.
Encouragement from SBRC co-founder Bob Talley help spur Sova to put SBRC’s history in a book.
She interviewed more than 100 former employees, including Gene Peterson, another of the co-founders.
“It was the most daunting task I’ve ever done in my life,” said Sova, who recently moved to Sedona, Arizona.
A broken leg ended her world travels and forced her to focus for 14 months on the book, which was released last November.
“Everyone has given such positive feedback,” Sova said. “There’s no way you can cover all the stories. But several people said, ‘You know what, my family never knew what I did and now I can show them.’”
Landsat 9, with the frame built by Northrop Grumman, carries an instrument built by Ball Aerospace, where Sova went to work after SBRC.
While SBRC’s link to Landsat has ended, Landsat 9 will carry a Santa Barbara County-made component. Northrop Grumman’s facility in Goleta provided the satellite’s solar array that is vital for keeping batteries charged so the mission can continue.
SBRC employees no longer work under the same roof but some still meet monthly for lunch while others remain in contact via alumni groups on social media.
The book, available in soft cover, with 342 pages on SBRC, can be purchased at Chaucer’s Books, 3321 State St. in Santa Barbara, and on Amazon.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.