Delta Option

NASA is exercising a contract option with Boeing for the $60 million Delta II launch of the ESSP 3/CloudSat satellite in April 2004. The fixed price option is covered under the NASA Med-Lite contract awarded to Boeing in 1996. The satellite, formerly known as Picasso-CENA, is the third mission of the NASA Earth System Science Pathfinder programme, carrying three instruments to study clouds and chemicals in the Earth's atmosphere on a comprehensive global basis.

Source: Flight International