
Under this contract, Ball Aerospace and Technology will manufacture, test, and deliver the GMI instrument Flight Unit 2, support instrument integration on the spacecraft, and provide launch and post-launch support. The GMI Flight Unit 2 will be identical to the GMI Flight Unit 1 and will be manufactured in series with GMI 1. GMI 1 is scheduled to fly in 2013 on the GPM Core Observatory.
This is a cost-plus-award fee, incentive fee contract in the amount of approximately $48.5 million with a period of performance from Oct. 9, 2009, through March 31, 2016. The GMI instrument, a multi-channel, conical-scanning, microwave radiometer, will measure Earth's atmospheric moisture with near-global coverage. The GMI Flight Unit 2 is planned to fly on a GPM partner-provided spacecraft in a low-inclination orbit as part of the GPM constellation with a targeted launch date of 2014. It will contribute to GPM by enhancing monitoring of hurricanes and mid-latitude storms and improving estimates of rainfall accumulation.