Launch Services Contract for Jason-3 Mission

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 modelling, 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 total value of the Jason-3 launch service is approximately USD82 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. 

The Launch Services Programme at NASA's Kennedy Space Centre is responsible for launch vehicle programme management of the Jason-3 launch services.