NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected L3Harris Technologies Inc. of Fort Wayne, Indiana, to develop the imager for NOAA’s Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite programme.
On behalf of NOAA, NASA and commercial partners develop and build the instruments, spacecraft, and ground system, and launch the satellites.
The GeoXO programme is the follow-on to the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites – R (GOES-R) Series programme.
The cost-plus-award-fee contract for the GeoXO imager, known as GXI, covers the development of two flight instruments and includes options for additional imagers. The anticipated period of performance for this contract includes support for 10 years of on-orbit operations and five years of on-orbit storage, for a total of 15 years for each flight model. The work will be completed at L3Harris facilities, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The GeoXO Imager (GXI) is the primary instrument for the GeoXO mission. GXI is a multi-channel, passive imaging radiometer used to measure environmental data. The instrument will provide real-time, high-resolution visible and infrared imagery for monitoring the Western Hemisphere’s weather, ocean, and environment. GXI will be used for a wide range of applications related to severe storms, hurricanes, aviation, natural hazards, the atmosphere and the ocean.
The contract scope includes the tasks and deliverables necessary to design, analyse, develop, fabricate, integrate, test, verify, evaluate, support launch, supply and maintain the instrument ground support equipment, and support mission operations at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility.
The GeoXO satellite system will advance Earth observations from geostationary orbit. The mission will supply vital information to address major environmental challenges of the future in support of weather, ocean, and climate operations in the United States. NOAA and NASA are working to ensure these critical observations are in place by the early 2030s when the GOES-R Series nears the end of its operational lifetime.
Together, NOAA and NASA will oversee the development, launch, testing, and operation of all the satellites in the GeoXO programme.
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