[Satellite TODAY 10-01-10] The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has awarded two contracts to Raytheon to develop and provide the command, control and communications segment and interface data processing segment for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Common Ground System, the agency announced Sept. 30.
    The contracts hold a combined potential value of more than $1.7 billion over the next eight years and replace $1.4 billion in previous government contracts awarded by NASA on behalf of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
    The JPSS program, which is a successor to the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program, includes satellites and sensors supporting next-generation civil weather and climate measurements. The program was created earlier this year when the U.S. government restructured NPOESS into a civilian portion and a defense portion, known as the U.S. Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS).
   “The award of the JPSS Common Ground System enables uninterrupted support to meet both civilian and defense weather needs. It allows Raytheon to continue the development and evolution of the ground system into an exceptional operational program for JPSS and DWSS,” Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems President Lynn Dugle said in a statement.
    NASA also awarded Raytheon a separate JPSS contract to complete work on the system’s Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). The JPSS contract replaces the NPOESS contract for final integration of the first flight unit and the remaining efforts for two additional sensors. The initial VIIRS instrument was provided after comprehensive sensor qualification testing under the original NPOESS contract.
     “The experience we gained building the first VIIRS instrument has led to efficiencies in the development of the second flight unit. Development work on the second VIIRS flight unit is progressing consistent with the current funding profile,” Raytheon Vice President of Space Systems Bill Hart said in a statement.
     Other JPSS contract winners include Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., which NASA selected in a $248 million, five-year deal to design, build and test the JPSS-1 satellite. Ball will be responsible for integrating government-furnished instruments on the JPSS-1 satellite and its launch vehicle, while supporting launch operations and on-orbit checkout. The spacecraft is expected to launch in 2014.
    ITT Corp. also won a $98.6 million, four-year contract from NASA to produce the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) instrument for the JPSS-1. ITT will manufacture, test and deliver the CrIS, support instrument integration on JPSS-1, and provide launch and post-launch support.