Raytheon Co. was awarded two NASA contracts to develop a radiometer instrument and ground system for a new civilian polar-orbiting weather satellite constellation, the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), the agency announced Sept. 23.
NASA on Sept. 23 also awarded a $248 million contract to Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., to provide the spacecraft platform for the first JPSS craft. The JPSS constellation is replacing the civilian component of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System that was dismantled by the White House earlier this year.
A $314 million contract to provide the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite for the first JPSS satellite was awarded to El Segundo, Calif.-based Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems. Aurora, Colo.-based Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems was awarded an eight-year, $1.4 billion contract to develop the JPSS Common Ground System, the NASA press release said.
NASA also awarded contracts in September for two other JPSS instruments. Ball received an $82.4 million contract for the Ozone Mapping and Profiling Suite and ITT Geospatial Systems of Rochester, N.Y., received a $98.6 million award for the Cross-track Infrared Sounder.
