Raytheon has received a $185 million modification from NASA on its current Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) Common Ground System (CGS) contract, which is intended to increase the capability and capacity of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) three satellites that support the JPSS mission through 2022.

JPSS is a polar-orbiting environmental satellite system and a collaborative program between NOAA and its acquisition agent NASA. The system tracks storms and weather events and provides images that can show changes in the earth's environment over time. Raytheon is the provider of the ground station acquiring the operational and scientific data from the program's satellites.

The current JPSS CGS contract is valued at $1.7 billion, and this new modification adds key capabilities, including improved operational and data availability, faster data delivery, automated mission management and information assurance.

"Our customers' high consequence missions demand faster data they can trust," said Lynn Dugle, president of Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services. "We have been developing these data delivery and information assurance capabilities as part of our commitment to providing common ground stations that can support multiple platforms."

Raytheon successfully completed the Block 2 Critical Design Review on January 17, confirming readiness to support the JPSS-1 satellite. Block 2 represents a complete architectural and technological refresh of JPSS CGS and a significant step in supporting the next generation of the program.

JPSS CGS supports multiple systems and provides data acquisition and global data routing for the Department of Defense's Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites' Meteorological Operational Satellite, the Japanese Space Exploration Agency's Global Change Observation Mission, the National Science Foundation and NASA's Space Communications and Navigation through cooperation agreements between NOAA and these partner agencies.

"JPSS CGS provides unprecedented global observation capability, and with this contract modification, we remain committed to the JPSS enterprise and mission," said Bill Sullivan, Raytheon's program director for JPSS CGS. "Leveraging a common, multi-mission ground system across national and international agencies is the most efficient and cost effective way to enhance operational weather data and improve global environmental observational capabilities."