Orbital Awarded $2 Million Study Contract for NOAA's GOES-R Weather Satellite System.Business EditorsDULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 24, 2003 Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC, though commonly referred to as Orbital) is a Dulles, Virginia company which specializes in satellite launch and manufacture. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :ORB) announced today that it has been awarded a $2 million contract by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Noun 1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - an agency in the Department of Commerce that maps the oceans and conserves their living resources; predicts changes to the earth's environment; provides weather reports and forecasts floods and hurricanes and (NOAA NOAA abbr. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Noun 1. NOAA - an agency in the Department of Commerce that maps the oceans and conserves their living resources; predicts changes to the earth's environment; ) to conduct studies of potential space and ground system architectures for the next generation of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (or GOES) program is a key element in United States' National Weather Service (NWS) operations. GOES weather imagery and quantitative sounding data are a continuous and reliable stream of environmental information used to (GOES) system known as GOES-R. The GOES-R system will use geostationary Aligned with the earth. Refers to satellites (GEOs) that travel at the same rotational speed as the earth (they are geosynchronous) and are always the same distance from the earth. See GEO. (GEO) satellites, equipped with advanced remote sensing Deriving digital models of an area on the earth. Using special cameras from airplanes or satellites, either the sun's reflections or the earth's temperature is turned into digital maps of the area. instruments, to conduct environmental monitoring and weather forecasting weather forecasting Prediction of the weather through application of the principles of physics and meteorology. Weather forecasting predicts atmospheric phenomena and changes on the Earth's surface caused by atmospheric conditions (snow and ice cover, storm tides, floods, activities for the U.S. Government and scientific community. Under the contract, Orbital will develop concepts that will allow NOAA to meet its future requirements for environmental sensing, data collection and data distribution. Orbital will complete studies for the GOES-R system's Space and Launch segment, its Command, Control and Communications (C3) segment, and its End-to-End Systems Integration segment. "Orbital is very excited to be selected to assist NOAA in determining the most effective space and ground system to meet its future needs for the GOES system," said Mr. David W. Thompson, Orbital's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "We look forward to applying Orbital's broad experience in developing innovative approaches to U.S. Government Earth observation missions for this critical NOAA program." Since its founding, Orbital has designed, developed and built over 90 satellites for civil government, military, commercial and international space agency customers. The company's satellite products include state-of-the-art platforms for low-Earth and geostationary orbit missions. Orbital's recent investments in its all-new STAR satellite product line has resulted in the company's rapid growth in the commercial market for GEO satellites, with orders for eight satellites in the last three years. The company is also applying technology from its STAR satellites to an advanced government scientific program, the Dawn planetary spacecraft mission that is being carried out for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory “JPL” redirects here. For other uses, see JPL (disambiguation). Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a NASA research center located in the cities of Pasadena and La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA. . Mr. Jack Danko, Orbital's Executive Vice President and General Manager of its Space Systems Group, stated, "Orbital's experience in designing complete space and ground systems for both low-Earth and geostationary orbit spacecraft gives us the background to make meaningful contributions to NOAA's GOES-R program. We will use our proven ability to design cost-effective, flexible and low risk architectures in support of NOAA's initiative." About Orbital Orbital develops and manufactures small space systems for commercial, civil government and military customers. The company's primary products are satellites and launch vehicles, including low-orbit, geostationary and planetary spacecraft for communications, remote sensing and scientific missions; ground- and air-launched rockets that deliver satellites into orbit; and missile defense boosters that are used as interceptor and target vehicles. Orbital also offers space-related technical services to government agencies and develops and builds satellite-based transportation management systems for public transit agencies and private vehicle fleet operators. |
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