WASHINGTON (AFP) Aug 24, 2002 - TRW Space and Electronics was awarded a 4.5 billion dollar US contract to build and deploy a constellation of weather satellites for civilian and military purposes.

The contract was awarded by the US Air Force, the Department of Commerce and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which will combine their various environmental satellite programs into a single system.

The new system is called the National Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite System.

"It will serve as a single, integrated satellite system satisfying both civil and national security requirements for space-based, remotely sensed environmental data that will significantly improve weather forecasting and climate prediction," the Pentagon said in an announcement with NASA and the Department of Commerce.

TRW is supposed to develop the system, produce two space craft and operate the system through 2011.

The contract includes options for four replacement space craft and operation through 20018.

The government expects to save as much 1.6 billion dollars by combining civilian and military activities in a single constellation of environmental satellites.

"This effort ultimately means the war fighter is receiving higher quality data sooner, and we're doing it with very significant cost savings," said Peter Teets, under secretary of the Air Force.