BOULDER, CO /PRNewswire/ -- The Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite for NASA successfully completed its Satellite Acceptance Review with Goddard Space Flight Center on March 6, 2012. With completion of commissioning activities, operation of the Suomi NPP has now been turned over to a Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) team.
Ball Aerospace designed and built the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite bus; the satellite's Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) instrument; integrated the satellite's five instruments; and performed satellite-level testing and launch support. All five Suomi NPP instruments have now been activated for science data collection.
"The Earth-observing NPP Suomi satellite has solidified its role as the trail blazer for the next generation of polar operational satellites," said David L. Taylor, Ball Aerospace president and CEO.
Launched in October 2011, the satellite's advanced-technology remote sensing suite of instruments will observe many facets of our changing Earth, leading to the launch of the JPSS-1, the Joint Polar Satellite System, which is the first of NOAA's next generation polar orbiting weather satellites. Ball Aerospace is currently leading the design and development effort for NOAA's JPSS-1 satellite, and building the JPSS-1 OMPS instrument. Both fixed-price satellites are designed for cost-effective, remote sensing applications as part of the Ball Configurable Platform (BCP) series of satellites.
About Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. supports critical missions for national agencies, such as the Department of Defense, NASA, NOAA, and other U.S. government and commercial entities. The company develops and manufactures spacecraft, advanced instruments and sensors, components, data exploitation systems, and RF solutions for strategic, tactical, and scientific applications.
About Ball Corp.
Ball Corp. is a supplier of high-quality packaging for beverage, food, and household products customers, and of aerospace and other technologies and services, primarily for the U.S. government. Ball Corp. and its subsidiaries employ more than 14,500 people worldwide and reported 2011 sales of more than $8.6 billion.