NOAA AWARDS GEONETCast Americas CONTRACT

NOAA has awarded the GEONETCast Americas commercial services contract to Intelsat General Corporation of Bethesda, Md. GEONETCast is part of a global effort of the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations to collect and distribute Earth observational data to a variety of end users, including government agencies and decision makers, academia and the general public.

"This contract is a major step forward in making the Global Earth Observation System of Systems a reality," said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "Having GEONETCast Americas in place will mean a smoother distribution of information about the Earth’s changing environment."

With the nearly $3.9 million contract, IGEN will provide continuous environmental data distribution over much of North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, using Digital Video Broadcast-Satellite technology for one year, with four annual renewal options. IGEN will provide the ground and space segment services through a C-band transponder on its Intelsat 9 geostationary communications satellite.

Under the terms of the contract, NOAA will initially purchase two megabits/sec of data bandwidth on the transponder, with options for expanding if requirements and funding are identified.

IGEN will partner with KenCast, Inc., of Stamford, Conn., which will provide datacasting software and redundant servers for data reception, management and processing for satellite broadcast located at IGEN's teleport facility in Ellenwood, Ga. The contractors will provide training for NOAA's Satellite and Information Service staff to configure and manage this system remotely from the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility building in Suitland, Md.

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 70 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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