Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has achieved a significant program milestone for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). The Company has successfully completed ground segment acceptance testing of the data processing segment at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility — three weeks ahead of schedule. The interface data processing segment, which will deliver the NPOESS data products to the users, is vital for future environmental analysis and weather forecasting supporting civil applications, scientific research, and military operations. This segment will first be used on the NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP), a risk reduction mission for NPOESS that will fly early versions of key sensors as a bridge between NASA's EOS missions and NPOESS. Raytheon is part of the NPOESS team led by prime contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. NPOESS is a satellite system that will be used to monitor global environmental conditions and collect and disseminate data related to weather, atmosphere, oceans, land and near-space environments.