Ball Aerospace has won a $489.6 million contract to deliver a sounder for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite program.

The GeoXO sounder is a critical instrument that will measure atmospheric temperature, humidity, and other properties to improve weather forecasting and climate monitoring.

The sounder is based on Ball’s proven Hyperspectral Imager Sounder (HIS) technology and will be a significant upgrade over the current sounders on NOAA’s weather satellites.