On behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA has awarded a sole source contract modification to Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation of Boulder, Colorado, for two Ozone Mapping and Profiling Suite (OMPS) instruments for flight on NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Polar Follow On JPSS-3 and JPSS-4 missions.

This is a cost-plus-award-fee modification in the amount of $214 million, increasing the total value of this contract from approximately $207 to $421 million. This modification also extends the period of performance to 18 months after the launch of JPSS-4.

Ball Aerospace will manufacture, test and deliver two OMPS instruments, support instrument integration on the JPSS-3 and JPSS-4 spacecraft, and provide launch and post-launch support. The OMPS instruments, comprised of a nadir sensor and electronics module, will be new builds of the design currently planned for NOAA’s JPSS-1 and JPSS-2 missions and currently flying on the NOAA/NASA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership mission.

OMPS collects total column and vertical profile ozone data and continues the daily global data produced by legacy ozone monitoring instruments, but with higher fidelity. Stratospheric ozone protects the planet from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays and OMPS ensures a gap does not occur in the ozone data needed to support the U.S. treaty obligation to monitor ozone in response to the Montreal Protocol.

OMPS data also are used in weather forecasts and, when combined with cloud predictions, produce better UV index forecasts warning the public of the dangers of prolonged sun exposure. In addition, OMPS provides measurements of volcanic ash and other atmospheric phenomena that are helpful in providing aircraft safety and air quality alerts.

NOAA funds the JPSS/Polar Follow On missions to provide global environmental data in low-Earth polar orbit. NASA is the acquisition agent for the flight systems and components of the ground segment for JPSS/PFO.

For more information about JPSS, visit: http://www.jpss.noaa.gov