NNSA marks 10th anniversary of Multispectral Thermal Imager satellite

LANL part of project team that built satellite

Mar. 15, 2010—The National Nuclear Security Administration recently commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) satellite, an interlaboratory effort to develop and evaluate space-based technology used for nonproliferation-treaty monitoring and other national security and civilian applications. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, Savannah River National Laboratory, and numerous other agencies and academic institutions participated in the project.

“The MTI satellite project is a terrific example of how NNSA and the Department of Energy leverage the best science and engineering in the world to advance nonproliferation efforts and promote national security,” said NNSA Administrator Thomas D’Agostino. “The multi-laboratory team has consistently demonstrated the critical role our national laboratories play in tackling the most challenging problems facing our nation and the world.”

The MTI satellite was launched in March 2000. Its objective is to demonstrate advanced multispectral and thermal imaging, image processing, and associated technologies that could be used in future systems for detecting and characterizing facilities producing weapons of mass destruction. A key feature of MTI is its ground and on-orbit calibration technology, which is designed to achieve accurate and precise measurements of absolute as well as relative in-scene surface temperatures.

Read a NNSA news release.