PALO ALTO, CA, July 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ - Space Systems/Loral (SSL), a leading provider of commercial satellites, today announced that it was selected by the Department of the Air Force Headquarters Space and Missile Systems Center as one of three companies to study ways to accommodate an instrument to monitor air pollutants over North America on a commercial satellite. The Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) Mission Study is the second Delivery Order to be awarded under the U.S. Air Force Hosted Payload Solutions (HoPS) contract.
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"Through its HoPS Indefinite-Delivery-Indefinite-Quantity contract vehicle, the Air Force has streamlined the process for NASA and other government agencies to leverage the value of hosted payloads on commercial spacecraft," said John Celli, president of SSL. "The TEMPO study gives us the opportunity to help our government find a very cost-effective solution for monitoring the health of the planet from space."
Earlier this month SSL announced that it was one of the companies that was eligible for U.S. Air Force contracts related to hosting government payloads on commercial satellites through a new streamlined contracting vehicle known as the HoPS IDIQ. With its track record as a leader in manufacturing geostationary satellites, including 16 GEO observatories, and with 74 commercial satellites currently on orbit, SSL is particularly well-positioned to help government agencies find rides for instruments, sensors and other small missions on commercial spacecraft.
"NASA is looking forward to working with the commercial satellite industry to identify a host system and define an interface for the TEMPO instrument," said Alan Little, TEMPO Mission Project Manager, NASA Langley Research Center. "Their creative ideas will help make this important pollution monitoring system possible."
TEMPO's hourly measurements from geostationary orbit have the potential to create a revolutionary dataset that provides understanding and improves prediction of air quality in North America. If NASA decides to proceed with the launch of the TEMPO payload, it could be the first NASA Earth Science payload to be hosted on a commercial communications satellite.
About SSL
SSL has a long history of delivering reliable satellites and spacecraft systems for commercial and government customers around the world. As the leading provider of commercial satellites, the company works closely with satellite operators to provide spacecraft for a broad range of services including television and radio distribution, digital audio radio, broadband Internet, mobile communications, and Earth observation. Billions of people around the world depend on SSL satellites every day. For more information, visit www.sslmda.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements and information, which reflect the current view of Space Systems/Loral (SSL) with respect to future events and financial performance. When used in this news release, the words "believes", "expects", "plans", "may", "will", "would", "could", "should", "anticipates", "estimates", "project", "intend" or "outlook" or other variations of these words or other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. Actual results may differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements as a result of known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Known risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: risks associated with operating satellites and providing satellite services, including satellite construction or launch delays, launch failures, in-orbit failures or impaired satellite performance; risks associated with satellite manufacturing, including competition, cyclicality of SSL's end-user markets, contractual risks, creditworthiness of customers, performance of suppliers and management of SSL's factory and personnel; risk associated with financial factors such as volatility in exchange rates, increases in interest rates, restrictions on access to capital, and swings in global financial markets; risks associated with domestic and foreign government regulation, including export controls and economic sanctions; and other risks, including litigation. The foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. The information contained in this news release reflects SSL's beliefs, assumptions, intentions, plans and expectations as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, SSL disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise the information herein.
SOURCE SSL
