"Aqua will provide unprecedented information on the global water cycle. The spacecraft will enable operational agencies to create more accurate weather forecasts in the future," said Ghassem Asrar, associate administrator for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise.

The launch of Aqua is scheduled for May 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a Delta rocket.

The satellite -- from the same family as the Earth-observing Terra satellite -- will carry six different instruments to measure marine currents and how clouds and bodies of water affect the environment. It is designed to last six years.

SPACE.WIRE