STPSat-3 is scheduled to launch Aug. 1, after which it will support a variety of experimental and risk reduction payloads at various low-Earth orbits. The design is based on Ball’s Configurable Platform 100 (BCP-100), which is compatible with multiple launch vehicles.

   Ball Aerospace president and CEO David Taylor said that integration of the four instruments and the MMA Design LLC De-Orbit Module was completed in 18 days, with arrival and installation of the final Joint Component Research payload scheduled for completion by the end of 2012.

   “With a build time of 47 days for STPSat-3 and 18 days for integration, our spacecraft bus continues to demonstrate its rapid production and deployment capability,” Taylor said in a statement. “This instrument will help determine the effects of solar radiation on Earth’s climate and will provide continuity of climate data record measurements prior to the launch of the Joint Polar Satellite System in 2017.”

   Ball Aerospace is also building the JPSS-1 satellite.