NOAA03-R311
Contact: John Leslie
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(301) 457-5005
Nov. 12, 2003
VIRGINIA FIRM WINS $2M NOAA CONTRACT
TO SUPPORT GOES-R SATELLITE PROGRAM
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced
today that it has awarded a $2M contract to Orbital Sciences Corp., of
Dulles. The award is part of a series of 11 contracts awarded to
different firms, totaling $20.5 million, for advanced architecture
studies for its Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite
(GOES-R) program. NOAA is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The contracts - each has a 12-month term, with a potential option of
six additional months - are designed to help NOAA define future GOES-R
requirements, by analyzing different, commercially viable architectures.
Through these contracts, NOAA plans to acquire research and advanced
technology information about end-to-end system alternatives from
commercial specialists in the aerospace, communications, and data
management fields. GOES-R is scheduled for launch in 2012.
NOAA's GOES satellite provides data products to the commercial,
educational, and public sectors to protect lives, property and the
environment, and to foster economic growth and promote educational
research. The future GOES-R mission is expected to improve the quality
and timeliness of environmental (weather and water) forecasts, understand
climate variability, management of ecosystems, and efficient transportation
of commerce systems; thus, expanding the safety and economic security
of the public.
NOAA will use the study results to refine requirements for the GOES-R
space, launch, command and control, product generation and distribution,
archive and access, and user interfaces to reduce design, cost, and
schedule risk. The study results will ensure that viable architectural
options are examined for the end-to-end system.
NOAA used the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) procurement mechanism
to solicit these study contracts. A BAA is used to advance the agency's
knowledge and understanding of the state of the art. Through this
mechanism a 12-month award was made to each of the following firms,
at the prices stated. A priced option exists for NOAA to extend
the research by six months, if warranted.
In addition to Orbital Sciences Corp., the firms selected for award
were: Spectrum Astro, Gilbert, Ariz., $1,000,000; Integral Systems,
Inc., Lanham, Md., $500,000; Carr Astronautics, Washington, D.C.,
$500,000; Raytheon, Aurora, Colo., $2,500,000; Northrop Grumman, Redondo
Beach, Calif., $2,500,000; Honeywell Technology Solutions, Inc.,
Columbia, Md., $500,000; Boeing Satellite Systems, Inc., Los Angeles,
Calif., $2,500,000; Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., Boulder,
Colo., $2,500,000; Harris Corp., Melbourne, Fla., $1,500,000; and
Lockheed Martin Corp., Greenbelt, Md., $2,500,000.
The contract awards are the result of combined efforts of NOAA
and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). For
years, NOAA and NASA have operated as an interagency team to acquire,
build, and launch NOAA's geostationary and polar-orbiting environmental
satellites.
NOAA's National Environmental Satellites Data, and Information
Service (NESDIS) is the nation's primary provider of space-based
environmental and climate data. It operates the nation's environmental
satellites, which are used for weather and ocean observation and
forecasting, climate monitoring and other environmental applications,
including sea-surface temperature, fire detection and ozone monitoring.
NESDIS operates three data centers, which house global databases in
climatology, oceanography, solid Earth geophysics, marine geology and
geophysics, solar-terrestrial physics and paleoclimatology.
NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national
safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate
related events and providing environmental stewardship of our nation's
coastal and marine resources.
