NASA Selects Launch Services Contract for Jason-3 Mission

July 16, 2012

Joshua Buck
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
jbuck@nasa.gov

George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
george.h.diller@nasa.gov


CONTRACT RELEASE: C12-029

NASA SELECTS LAUNCH SERVICES CONTRACT FOR JASON-3 MISSION

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA has selected Space Exploration
Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif., to launch the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Jason-3 spacecraft in
December 2014 aboard a Falcon 9 v1.0 rocket from Complex 4 at
Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The total value of the Jason-3 launch service is approximately $82
million. This estimated cost includes the task ordered launch service
for the Falcon 9 v1.0, plus additional services under other contracts
for payload processing, launch vehicle integration, mission-unique
launch site ground support and tracking, data and telemetry services.
NASA is the procurement agent for NOAA.

Jason-3 is an operational ocean altimetry mission designed to measure
precisely sea surface height to monitor ocean circulation and sea
level. Jason-3 will follow in the tradition of previous missions such
as TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1 and the Ocean Surface Topography
Mission/Jason-2. The Jason-3 mission will be developed and operated
as part of an international effort led by NOAA and the European
Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites in
collaboration with NASA and the French space agency, Centre National
d'Etudes Spatiales.

Processed data from the satellite will be used in a broad range of
applications including operational ocean and weather forecasting,
ocean wave modeling, hurricane intensification prediction, seasonal
forecasting, El Nino and La Nina forecasting and climate research.
The data will help address questions about global climate change.

The Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center is
responsible for launch vehicle program management of the Jason-3
launch services.

For more information about NASA and its missions, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov


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