Nov. 22, 2016   
   CONTRACT RELEASE C16-029   
   NASA Selects Launch Services for Global Surface Water Survey Mission   
       
   NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne,   
   California, to provide launch services for the agency's Surface Water and   
   Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission. Launch is targeted for April 2021 on a SpaceX   
   Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in   
   California.   
       
   The total cost for NASA to launch SWOT is approximately $112 million, which   
   includes the launch service; spacecraft processing; payload integration; and   
   tracking, data and telemetry support.   
       
   Designed to make the first-ever global survey of Earth's surface water, in   
   addition to high-resolution ocean measurements, the SWOT mission will collect   
   detailed measurements of how water bodies on Earth change over time. The   
   satellite will survey at least 90 percent of the globe, studying Earth's   
   lakes, rivers, reservoirs and oceans, at least twice every 21 days, aid in   
   freshwater management around the world, to improve ocean circulation models   
   and weather and climate predictions. The SWOT spacecraft will be jointly   
   developed and managed by NASA and the French space agency Centre National   
   d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES).   
       
   NASA's Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida will manage   
   the SpaceX launch service. The SWOT Project office at NASA's Jet Propulsion   
   Laboratory in Pasadena, California, manages spacecraft development for the   
   agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.   
       
   For more information about NASA programs and missions, visit:   
       
   http://www.nasa.gov   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
   --- DB 3.99 + W10 (1607)   
    * Origin: NCS BBS - Houma, LoUiSiAna (1:3828/7)