WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded a sole source contract to Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp. of Boulder, Colo., for the Ozone Mapping and Profiling Suite (OMPS) instrument on the first Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS).

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JPSS is the restructured civilian portion of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). This includes the satellites and sensors that support civil weather and climate measurements in the afternoon orbit, as well as a ground system that will be shared with the Department of Defense weather satellite system. NASA is acting as the acquisition agent to procure these assets. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., has the lead for acquisition of the restructured program for NOAA.

Under this contract, Ball Aerospace and Technology will manufacture, test and deliver the OMPS, support instrument integration on the JPSS-1 spacecraft, and provide launch and post-launch support. The instrument will be similar to the OMPS planned for flight on the NPOESS Preparatory Project mission. JPSS-1 is being planned for launch in 2014.

This is a cost-reimbursement contract in the amount of approximately $82.4 million, with a period of performance from October 2009 through September 2014.

OMPS will monitor ozone, collect total column and vertical profile ozone data, and continue the current daily global data provided by the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer/2 and Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer, but with higher accuracy and precision. The collection of this data contributes to fulfilling the U.S. treaty obligation to monitor the ozone depletion for the Montreal Protocol to ensure no gaps in coverage.

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SOURCE NASA

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