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Ball Aerospace OMPS Commences Data Collection on NPP Satellite

By Jeffrey Hill | January 25, 2012

      [Satellite TODAY 01-25-12] Ball Aerospace & Technologies’ Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) has begun collecting Earthview image science and solar calibration data onboard the U.S. National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite, Ball Aerospace announced Jan. 24.

         The NPP satellite was launched in October. OMPS is one of five instruments onboard the NPP’s bus, which completed commissioning in November. OMPS data aims to provide the U.S. government with ozone layer date to help determine if synthetic chemicals are affecting the Earth’s climate. Ball Aerospace said that all five instruments would be returning scientific data before the end of January.
         “We expect the satellite and its five-instrument suite to bridge essential global climate and key weather data while Ball continues to build the Joint Polar Satellite System-1 as the follow-on to NPP," Ball Aerospace President and CEO David Taylor said in a statement.
         The JPSS-1 satellite is scheduled to launch in 2016.