The US Air Force has awarded contracts for competitive development of sensors for the National Polar Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).
Hughes Aircraft received $37 million and ITT Aerospace/ Communication was awarded $36 million to develop and design the Cross Track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) and Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite sensors. Ball Aerospace received $36 million to work on the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) and the Conical Microwave Imager/Sounder (CMIS) sensors. Hughes Space and Communications was awarded $32 million to develop its competing CMIS sensor, and Orbital Sciences won $5 million for OMPS research work.
Source: Flight International
