[10-31-07 – Satellite Today]  Raytheon Co., Northrop Grumman Corp. and the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Integrated Program Office (IPO) turned over NPOESS command, control and communications segment to the operations and support team, Raytheon announced Oct. 31.
Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, NASA and the NPOESS IPO also communicated satellite commands from the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) Satellite Mission Management Center to the NPP spacecraft and sensors. The first stage of testing sent satellite command instructions from the Mission Management Center at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Md., to the NPP
spacecraft and sensors at the Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. facility in Boulder, Colo. This marked the first time that the center was used to command the spacecraft.
The tests confirm the compatibility of all system elements and that the program can continue, ultimately leading to the NPP launch in late 2009, Raytheon said.