CONTACT: Patricia Viets FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(301) 457-5005 5/11/95
An $8 million engineering services contract to support satellite operations has been awarded to Martin Marietta Services Inc., the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today.
Under the contract, Martin Marietta Services, a Lockheed- Martin company based in Cherry Hill, N.J., will provide engineering and navigation services in support of NOAA's Satellite Operations Control Center in Suitland, Md. The contract is for one year with four one-year options.
A principal operating feature of the NOAA system is the centralized remote control of both geostationary and polar- orbiting environmental satellites through command and data acquisition stations at Fairbanks, Alaska, and Wallops, Va. These stations transmit command programs to the satellites and acquire and record meteorological and engineering data from the satellites.
NOAA operates two geostationary and two polar-orbiting satellites. Plans call for a new geostationary satellite to be launched on May 19 from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla.