Ball Aerospace to Deliver Main WFIRST Telescope Instrument Components Under $113M NASA Contract

Ball Aerospace and Technologies has received a $113.2 million contract to develop, build and test the main instrument components of NASA‘s upcoming observatory known as the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope.

Ball will deliver design, analysis, fabrication, test and evaluation services supporting the development of WFIRST Wide Field Instrument components under the WFI Opto-Mechanical Assembly contract, the space agency said Thursday.

The company will also assist in integrating and validating WFI and provide support for post-delivery activities including payload and observatory integration; prelaunch, launch and commissioning; and supply and maintenance of WFI ground support equipment.

Work will begin this month and is expected to end by June 2026.

This award follows Ball’s WFIRST study that was completed last year.

WFIRST is a mission telescope being developed to support exoplanet detection and dark energy research.

Efforts for WFIRST are fully financed under fiscal 2018 funds and will continue through fiscal 2019 once appropriations have been decided.

Maryland-based Goddard Space Flight Center manages the program.

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