Raytheon has completed the second communication upgrade in Antarctica for the national polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite system (NPOESS).
The modification of the satellite communications link at McMurdo Station offers better operational performance, supporting higher data rates for off-continent communications.
Two satellite earth station antennas have been upgraded and satellite bandwidth expanded to support 20Mbps communication.
Raytheon NPOESS programme manager Bill Sullivan said the upgrade was essential for timely mission data delivery from the McMurdo ground station to the NPOESS data processing centres.
The upgrade, which became operational in January 2010, completes a four-year electronics modernisation programme for the two large National Science Foundation satellite communications antennas.
NPOESS is a next-generation, low Earth orbiting operational weather and climate monitoring system to providing timely and essential data to civilian and military users.
The US Government recently announced plans to restructure NPOESS and is developing a transition plan.
