Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has announced the receipt of a contract award to develop a system architecture for the next generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) system, planned for launch in 2012. The GOES satellite system provides imagery and associated data used to predict our planet’s weather and to monitor the environment.
Under this contract, Ball Aerospace will develop an end-to-end configuration for the satellites and associated ground system for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
“We are very committed to the work being done on the GOES program,” said David L. Taylor, president and chief executive officer, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. “Instruments and spacecraft that are designed to study weather and the environment are a big part of our heritage at Ball Aerospace and a key focus for our current and future business.”
The GOES satellites provide critical data used by forecasters at the National Weather Service to predict the weather and monitor many aspects of the environment. From their geosynchronous orbits, these satellites continuously observe the Earth, tracking routine weather patterns as well as the development of severe weather such as hurricanes and tornadoes.
The GOES data are increasingly important to forecasters as they strive to improve the reliability of weather and climate predictions. NOAA will use the results from the GOES-R system architecture studies to enhance the performance of the GOES system in support of this objective.
