Harris
Corporation , a leading manufacturer of radiation-hardened
(Rad-Hard) processors for spaceborne applications, today announced
that it has been awarded a contract by Ball Aerospace & Technologies
Corporation, Boulder, Colorado, to provide Harris RH3000 data
processing modules for the National Polar-orbiting Operational
Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP). The
announcement was made during the 19th National Space Symposium (Harris
Booth #3-6), held April 7-10, at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado
Springs, Colorado.
Under the contract, Harris will provide its family of RH3000
32-bit onboard microprocessor modules – the “brains” of the spacecraft
– for the NPP satellite being manufactured by Ball Aerospace. The
RH3000 processor family is flight-proven and Rad-Hard for the harsh
environment of space.
“Harris has a leadership position in spaceborne, Rad-Hard
processors, and this is yet another significant win for us,” said Bob
Henry, senior vice president, Harris Corporation, and president,
Harris Government Communications Systems Division (GCSD). “We are very
pleased that Ball Aerospace has again selected Harris as its teammate
in helping to usher in the new era of meteorological forecasting that
is represented by the NPP and NPOESS programs.”
The NPP is the precursor to the NPOESS mission, which will deploy
an advanced suite of environmental sensors with dramatically improved
resolution and performance over the current generation of satellite
sensors. NPP also provides risk reduction for the NPOESS program
through early flight validation of critical NPOESS sensors. NPP is
currently scheduled for launch in May 2006.
NPOESS ultimately will merge U.S. civil and military operational
meteorological satellite systems into a single system providing
high-resolution, space-based, environmental data. The greater volume
and accuracy of the data will result in significant improvements in
severe weather, hurricane, and flooding forecasts, as well as improved
agricultural and aviation forecasting. Initial deployments of the
NPOESS system are scheduled for the 2008-2009 timeframe.
Harris GCSD, one of five divisions within Harris Corporation,
conducts advanced research studies, develops prototypes, and produces
and supports state-of-the-art, assured communications and information
systems that solve the mission-critical communications challenges of
its military and government customers, while serving as the technology
base for the company’s diverse commercial businesses. Harris
Corporation, which also provides tactical radio, broadcast, microwave,
and network support products and systems, serves customers in more
than 150 countries. On the Net, Harris Corporation site:
http://www.harris.com
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