[Satellite Today 11-18-08] The third of five sensors for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project
(NPP) spacecraft has been delivered to NASA for spacecraft integration, Northrop Grumman announced Nov. 17.
    The Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite will measure the concentration of ozone in the atmosphere, providing information on how ozone concentration varies with altitude.
The measurements will be used in global climate models and the sensor fulfills the U.S. treaty obligation to monitor global ozone concentrations with no gaps in coverage.
     Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for NPOESS, responsible for overseeing the development of sensors for NPP. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. built the instrument and is integrating the NPP spacecraft for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. 
    NPP is scheduled to be launched in 2009. Production of the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite Flight Model 2 (FM2) instrument for the first NPOESS spacecraft also is underway. Delivery is scheduled for December 2010 in preparation for the NPOESS C1
launch scheduled for 2013.