WASHINGTON, Sept. 17,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA, on behalf of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected
Lockheed Martin Corp. of Littleton,
Colorado, to develop a lightning mapping instrument as part
of NOAA's Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite
program.
This cost-plus-award-fee contract is valued at approximately
$297.1 million. It includes the
development of two flight instruments as well as options for two
additional units. The anticipated period of performance for this
contract includes support for 10 years of on-orbit operations and
five years of on-orbit storage, for a total of 15 years for each
flight model. The work will take place at Lockheed Martin's
facilities in Sunnyvale,
California, and Littleton,
Colorado, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the agency's
Kennedy Space Center in
Florida.
The GeoXO Lightning Mapper will detect, locate, and measure the
intensity, duration, and extent of lightning flashes. The
instrument will continue critical observations provided by the
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R (GOES-R)
Series Geostationary Lightning Mapper. Data from Lightning Mapper
will be used to analyze severe storms, increase warning lead time
for hazardous weather, and provide earlier indications of impending
lightning strikes to the ground. The data will also be used for
hurricane intensity prediction, wildfire detection and response,
precipitation estimation, and to mitigate aviation hazards.
Forecasters need lightning information from geostationary orbit
because the data are available where other sources are more
limited, especially over oceans and in mountainous and rural areas.
The data are also available more frequently than local radar and
fill in radar coverage gaps.
The contract scope includes the tasks and deliverables necessary
to design, analyze, develop, fabricate, integrate, test, verify,
and evaluate the lightning mapper instrument in addition to
supporting the launch; supplying and maintaining the instrument
ground support equipment; and supporting mission operations at the
NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland.
The GeoXO Program is the follow-on to the GOES-R Series Program.
The GeoXO satellite system 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 advanced capabilities
from GeoXO will help address our changing planet and the evolving
needs of the nation's data users. Both NASA and NOAA are working to
ensure these critical observations are in place by the early 2030s
when the GOES-R Series nears the end of its operational
lifetime.
Together, NOAA and NASA oversee the development, launch,
testing, and operation of all the satellites in the GeoXO Program.
NOAA funds and manages the program, operations, and data products.
On behalf of NOAA, NASA and commercial partners develop and build
the instruments and spacecraft and launch the satellites.
For more information on the GeoXO program, visit:
https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/geoxo
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SOURCE NASA