Exelis

Exelis Space Systems, a subsidiary of Harris, will build two payloads for the fourth and fifth weather satellites of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) joint polar satellite system (JPSS) programme.

The $316m cost plus award fee contract modification was awarded by Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center, on behalf of NOAA.

The contract is also part of NOAA and Nasa’s polar follow-on extension JPSS-3 and JPSS-4 missions.

The cross-track infrared sounder (CrIS) instrument will create high-resolution, three-dimensional temperature, pressure and moisture profiles to improve weather forecasting models.

The joint NOAA / Nasa Suomi National polar-orbiting partnership satellite, launched in 2011, is using the first CrIS instrument.

The second CrIS instrument is scheduled to be launched in early 2017 aboard the JPSS-1 spacecraft, followed by the third CrIS instrument to be launched in 2021 aboard JPSS-2 spacecraft.

"CrIS provides vital data for numerical prediction models key to both short and long-term weather forecasting."

Harris Environmental Solutions vice-president Eric Webster said: "CrIS provides vital data for numerical prediction models key to both short and long-term weather forecasting."

The JPSS programme is a joint collaboration between NOAA and Nasa, which aims to continue quality observational data to maintain current weather forecasts beyond 2017.

NOAA manages and operates JPSS satellites and Nasa develops and builds the instruments, spacecraft and key components of the ground segment, as well as launching the satellite.

NOAA expects to launch JPSS-3 and JPSS-4, the fourth and fifth spacecraft within NOAA’s next generation of polar-orbiting satellites, in 2026 and 2031 respectively.

Exelis will manufacture the payloads at its Fort Wayne, Indiana site.

Image: The cross-track infrared sounder (CrIS) instrument produces high-resolution, three-dimensional temperature, pressure and moisture profiles to enhance weather forecasting models. Photo: courtesy of Harris.