88th Annual Meeting (20-24 January 2008)

Tuesday, 22 January 2008
NPOESS Command, Control, and Communications Segment (C3S)
Exhibit Hall B (Ernest N. Morial Convention Center)
Paul B. Koster, Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems, Aurora, CO
The installation, integration and test of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Command, Control, and Communication Segment (C3S) have been substantially completed with the successful completion of the Segment Acceptance Test (SAT) in October 2006. The NPOESS Preparatory Project (NPP) Software qualification testing is now complete, with over 2 million lines of software code delivered. C3S equipment is now deployed to the following locations: the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF) in Suitland MD, the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) at Offutt AFB NE, the White Sands Complex (WSC) in New Mexico, and the NPP Ground Station at Svalbard, Norway. Several NPP Compatibility Tests successfully commanded and monitored telemetry from the NPP spacecraft with the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS), Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) and Ozone Mapping and Profiling Suite (OMPS) Engineering Development Units (EDUs). Long-lead NPOESS activities are on Track: 7 of 9 required Landing Rights spectrum applications for NPOESS-era ground stations have been submitted, and the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for NPOESS C3S software was completed in May 2006. Ongoing data communications support to operational missions (Windsat/Coriolis, Terra, Aqua, Aura, POES) has provided early infrastructure checkout and significant NPP risk reduction.

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