NASA selects Lockheed Martin to build next-gen spacecraft for NOAA

NASA, on behalf of the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has chosen Lockheed Martin Corp. of Littleton, Colorado, to construct the spacecraft for NOAA’s Geostationary Prolonged Observations (GeoXO) satellite program.

This cost-plus-award-fee contract is valued at roughly $2.27 billion. It consists of the event of three spacecraft in addition to 4 choices for added spacecraft.

The anticipated interval of efficiency for this contract consists of assist for 10 years of on-orbit operations and 5 years of on-orbit storage, for a total of 15 years for every spacecraft. The work will happen at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Littleton and NASA’s Kennedy Area Heart in Florida.

The GeoXO constellation will embrace three operational satellites—east, west and central. Every geostationary, three-axis stabilized spacecraft is designed to host three devices. The centrally situated spacecraft will carry an infrared sounder and atmospheric composition instrument and can even accommodate a associate payload.

Spacecraft within the east and west positions will carry an imager, lightning mapper, and ocean colour instrument. They may even assist an auxiliary communication payload for the NOAA Knowledge Assortment System relay, dissemination, and commanding.

The contract scope consists of the duties essential to design, analyze, develop, fabricate, combine, take a look at, consider, and assist launch of the GeoXO satellites; present engineering growth items; provide and keep the bottom assist tools and simulators; and assist mission operations on the NOAA Satellite tv for pc Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland.

NASA and NOAA oversee the event, launch, testing, and operation of all of the satellites within the GeoXO program. NOAA funds and manages this system, operations, and information merchandise. On behalf of NOAA, NASA and business companions develop and construct the devices and spacecraft and launch the satellites.

As a part of NOAA’s constellation of geostationary environmental satellites to guard life and property throughout the Western Hemisphere, the GeoXO program is the follow-on to the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites—R (GOES-R) Collection Program.

The GeoXO satellite system will advance Earth observations from geostationary orbit. The mission will provide very important data to handle main environmental challenges of the longer term in assist of climate, ocean, and local weather operations in the USA.

The superior capabilities from GeoXO will assist assess our altering planet and the evolving wants of the nation’s information customers.

Collectively, NASA and NOAA are working to make sure GeoXO’s vital observations are in place by the early 2030s when the GOES-R Collection nears the top of its operational lifetime.