Posted inCivil

Northrop Says It Can Meet JPSS Schedule

Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems has informed the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that it could meet the government’s requirement to have a fully capable civil weather satellite ready for launch by 2014, a company spokesman said July 16.

NOAA on June 25 announced its intent to award, through NASA, a sole-source contract to Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. to provide the platform for the first satellite in a new civilian program dubbed the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). In justifying its plan to make a sole-source award, NOAA said Ball was uniquely qualified meet the schedule requirement but invited other companies that believe they could fulfill the government’s needs to submit a statement of capability.

Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman was developing the platform for the now-dismantled National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System. The company believes this satellite could be integrated with the five planned sensors and be ready for launch in mid-2014, Northrop Grumman spokesman Lon Rains said in an e-mail.