NASA has awarded a sole source contract to Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp. of Boulder, Colo., for the Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager instrument Flight Unit 2.

The Global Precipitation Measurement, or GPM, mission will use an international constellation of satellites to study global rain, snow and ice to better understand our climate, weather, and hydrometeorological processes.

Under this contract, Ball Aerospace and Technology will manufacture, test and deliver the GMI instrument Flight Unit 2, support instrument integration on the spacecraft and provide launch and post-launch support.

The GMI Flight Unit 2 will be identical to the GMI Flight Unit 1 and will be manufactured in series with GMI 1. GMI 1 is scheduled to fly in 2013 on the GPM Core Observatory.

This is a cost-plus-award fee, incentive fee contract in the amount of approximately $48.5 million with a period of performance from Oct. 9, 2009, through March 31, 2016.

The GMI instrument, a multi-channel, conical-scanning, microwave radiometer, will measure Earth's atmospheric moisture with near-global coverage.

The GMI Flight Unit 2 is planned to fly on a GPM partner-provided spacecraft in a low-inclination orbit as part of the GPM constellation with a targeted launch date of 2014. It will contribute to GPM by enhancing monitoring of hurricanes and mid-latitude storms and improving estimates of rainfall accumulation.