NOAA AWARDS CONTRACT FOR ENGINEERING ANALYSIS SUPPORT

NOAA announced today that it has awarded a contract to Noblis, Inc., formerly Mitretek, of Fairfax, Va., to provide scientific engineering analysis support for NOAA’s future geostationary and polar-orbiting satellite programs. The contract has a base period of 12 months, with four additional 12-month option periods and five award terms of six months each for a maximum life span of seven years and six months. The contract’s total value is $45 million.

The contract’s core goal is to maintain the scientific and engineering technology support for NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), including the current GOES-N,O,P satellite series and the future GOES-R satellite series. The contract also covers the NOAA’s current Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) and the future National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). The contractor is also required to provide theoretical analyses, exploratory studies and any engineering or development work, which calls for a practical application of investigative findings related to these satellite systems.

GOES-R will feature more advanced Earth-imaging and atmospheric sensors that will make major contributions in understanding weather and environmental factors that impact the United States and western hemisphere. NPOESS will enable high-quality, space-based, remotely-sensed data to be used faster and more frequently in numerical weather prediction models for improved environmental forecasts and warnings worldwide.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60
countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

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