Under the contract, Harris will provide its family of RH3000 32-bit onboard microprocessor modules - the "brains" of the spacecraft - for the NPP satellite being manufactured by Ball Aerospace. The RH3000 processor family is flight-proven and Rad-Hard for the harsh environment of space.

"Harris has a leadership position in spaceborne, Rad-Hard processors, and this is yet another significant win for us," said Bob Henry, senior vice president, Harris Corporation, and president, Harris Government Communications Systems Division (GCSD). "We are very pleased that Ball Aerospace has again selected Harris as its teammate in helping to usher in the new era of meteorological forecasting that is represented by the NPP and NPOESS programs."

The NPP is the precursor to the NPOESS mission, which will deploy an advanced suite of environmental sensors with dramatically improved resolution and performance over the current generation of satellite sensors. NPP also provides risk reduction for the NPOESS program through early flight validation of critical NPOESS sensors. NPP is currently scheduled for launch in May 2006.

NPOESS ultimately will merge U.S. civil and military operational meteorological satellite systems into a single system providing high-resolution, space-based, environmental data. The greater volume and accuracy of the data will result in significant improvements in severe weather, hurricane, and flooding forecasts, as well as improved agricultural and aviation forecasting. Initial deployments of the NPOESS system are scheduled for the 2008-2009 timeframe.

Harris GCSD, one of five divisions within Harris Corporation, conducts advanced research studies, develops prototypes, and produces and supports state-of-the-art, assured communications and information systems that solve the mission-critical communications challenges of its military and government customers, while serving as the technology base for the company's diverse commercial businesses. Harris Corporation, which also provides tactical radio, broadcast, microwave, and network support products and systems, serves customers in more than 150 countries. On the Net, Harris Corporation site: http://www.harris.com

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