Ball Aerospace & Technology Corp. said it has completed assembly and integration of the spacecraft for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project. Ball said the project has two purposes: to provide data continually between the Earth Observing System Terra and Aqua missions and NPOESS and also to provide technical risk reduction for NPOESS. The project is a joint effort of the NPOESS Integrated Program Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The spacecraft for the project is to be launched in 2006.