The Space Foundation has issued the following statement of support regardingthe awarding of a $4.5 billion contract to TRW Inc. to build and deploy the nation’s future environmental satellite system, announced today by NOAA, DoD and NASA.
The contract is for the Acquisition and Operations (A&O) phases of the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). NPOESS combines the nations military and civilian environmental satellite programs into a single national system that will significantly improve weather forecasting and climate prediction.
“From troops in the field to farmers in their fields, this next- generation weather satellite system is going to provide tremendous new capabilities to Americans everywhere,” said Elliot G. Pulham, president and chief executive officer of the Space Foundation, the leading national non-profit organization on space issues. “The government is getting this one right, replacing an aging collection of
weather fiefdoms with a technologically advanced weather satellite
network that will serve America well and cost taxpayers less.”
“Government had two extremely good contractor teams to choose from,” Pulham said. “Today’s selection moves the ball forward. >From vacation planners to military planners, astronauts to argonauts, NPOESS is going to change the way we see the world’s weather. Stand by for another space-based revolution in the way America does business.”
NPOESS program: www.ipo.noaa.gov
Space Foundation: www.spacefoundation.org
Space Foundation contact:
Julie Howell
Manager, Public Relations and Communications
719-576-8000
julie@spacefoundation.org
310 S. 14th St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80904
