News

NASA Selects Ball Aerospace & L3Harris for Geostationary and Extended Observations Sounder Phase A Study Contracts

By Doug Messier

Parabolic Arc

October 3, 2021

Filed under Ball Aerospace, Geostationary and Extended Observations, GeoXO, GXS, L3Harris Technologies, NASA, NASA Goddard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, weather forecasting, weather satellites

A view of the Earth from the EWS-G1 satellite taken on September 1, 2020. Originally launched in 2006 as GOES-13, the satellite provided operational weather coverage over the United States’ East Coast for 10 years before being replaced in the GOES-East position by GOES-16. The transfer to the Department of Defense and relocation of EWS-G1 is the culmination of joint efforts between SMC, NOAA and NASA. (Credit: U.S. Space Force’s MARK IV-B Program Office)

GREENBELT, Md. (NASA PR) — NASA has selected Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation of Boulder, Colorado, and L3Harries Technologies of Fort Wayne, Ind., for Geostationary and Extended Observations (GeoXO) Sounder (GXS) Phase A Study contracts. The GXS Phase A Study requirement will provide services to help meet the objectives of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GeoXO program.

The total value of each of these twenty-month firm-fixed-price contracts is approximately $8 million. Ball will perform work at its facilities in Boulder. L3Harris will perform the work in Fort Wayne.

The principal purpose of the contracts is to provide a definition-phase A study of a geostationary Sounder instrument. The Sounder will be a hyperspectral infrared instrument that is planned to fly on the NOAA GeoXO program series of geostationary satellites.

NOAA’s GeoXO satellite system is the groundbreaking mission that will advance Earth observations from geostationary orbit. The mission will supply vital information to address major environmental challenges of the future in support of weather, ocean, and climate operations in the United States.

The GeoXO mission will continue and expand observations provided by the GOES-R series of satellites. GeoXO will bring new capabilities to address emerging environmental issues and challenges that threaten the security and well-being of every American. NOAA is working to ensure these critical observations are in place by the early 2030s, as the GOES-R Series nears the end of its operational lifetime.

The GeoXO mission is a collaborative partnership between NOAA and NASA. NOAA funds, operates, and manages the mission and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the acquisition of the Phase A Formulation contracts.

For more information about the GeoXO mission, visit: https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/next-generation-satellites/geostationary-extended-observations-geoxo

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: https://www.nasa.gov