Harris Corp. has been awarded a 10-year, potential $736 M contract to provide a complete, end-to-end solution for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite — Series R Ground Segment (GOES-R GS) program.
The Harris team will design, develop, deploy and operate the GOES-R ground segment, which will receive and process satellite data, and generate and distribute weather data to more than 10,000 direct users. Harris will also provide the command and control of operational satellites. The Harris team is providing a service-based, open-architecture solution that will accommodate the anticipated 40-times increase in data to be ingested, processed and distributed. The first launch of a GOES-R series satellite is scheduled for 2015.
Today’s GOES satellites provide the images and time-lapse sequences familiar to most Americans because they are commonly used in television weather forecasts. The satellites are the primary tool used by NOAA to detect and track hurricanes, thunderstorms, tornadoes and other severe weather in the continental US and the western hemisphere. The next-generation GOES-R system will provide significantly improved image resolution and increase the rate of imagery coverage of earth surfaces from every 30 minutes to every five minutes in normal conditions, and every 30 seconds during periods of severe weather.