NOAA, NASA ANNOUNCE GOES-R INSTRUMENT CONTRACT AWARD

NOAA and NASA today announced a $92 million contract award with the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder to design and develop the Extreme Ultra Violet and X-Ray Irradiance Sensors. These instruments will help forecast solar disturbances, and will fly on the next generation of geostationary satellites, known as GOES-R. The first satellite in the series is set to launch in December 2014.

The work on EXIS will be performed at the contractor’s facility in Boulder. EXIS has two measurement features: an X-Ray sensor for monitoring the sun’s flares and the Extreme Ultraviolet Sensors that monitor severe variations in the sun’s light. Both solar flares and variations in sunlight can disrupt communications and navigational accuracy.

Once launched on GOES-R, scientists at NOAA’s Space Environment Center, also in Boulder, will be the primary users of the EXIS instruments. The SEC provides real-time monitoring, forecasting and warnings of solar and geophysical events and disturbances. Delivering EXIS is a key requirement of NOAA’s space weather operations through GOES-R.

“The EXIS will provide one of the most important observations for early warning of space weather events, and it is a key measurement for the Radio Blackout Space Weather Scale,” said SEC Director Tom Bogdan. “This sensor will continue more than 30 years of NOAA observations of solar x-ray emission from the sun and will allow SEC to provide continuous, real-time alerts and warnings to critical customers such as FAA and commercial airlines.”

In addition to developing the EXIS instruments, the contractor will provide post-delivery and on-orbit support. When launched, the GOES-R series will upgrade existing weather and environmental monitoring capabilities, and introduce a new era for U.S. geostationary remote sensing.

NOAA funds, operates and manages the GOES-R program. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the acquisition of the GOES-R space segment for NOAA.

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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