Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. has moved the NPOESS Preparatory Satellite (NPP) to the thermal vacuum chamber for final testing.

NPP was lowered into Ball's chamber on March 2, 2011, to simulate the harsh rigors of space the satellite will encounter when it is launched in October 2011. Thermal vacuum testing is a major milestone for the NPP satellite with completion anticipated by May 1, 2011.

Ball Aerospace is providing its BCP 2000 spacecraft bus under fixed-price terms for NPP under contract to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Ball is also providing the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) for the instrument suite.

The NPP mission will continue critical weather and climate measurements by flying a suite of advanced-technology remote sensing instruments.