Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS) has delivered its proposal for a total, end-to-end solution for the ground segment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series (GOES-R) program. The ground segment provides receiving and processing satellite data, generating and distributing products from these data, and the command-and-control of operational satellites.

GOES satellites are a primary tool currently used by NOAA to detect and track hurricanes, thunderstorms, tornadoes, and other severe weather in the continental United States and the western hemisphere. The satellites provide the images and time-lapse sequences familiar to most Americans in television weather forecasts. The nexgen GOES-R system will provide significantly improved image resolution and increase the rate of imagery coverage of earth surfaces from every 30 minutes to every 5 minutes — and every 30 seconds for severe weather events. GOES-R advanced sensor technology will measure data such as solar activity, the charged particle environment, the Earth's magnetic field, temperature and moisture profiles, cloud properties, ozone estimates, and solar x-ray flux to support accurate weather forecasting, severe storm tracking, and meteorological research. The Harris team's service-based, open-architecture solution for GOES-R is a flexible, end-to-end system that accommodates the anticipated 40-times increase in data that will be ingested, processed and distributed to more than 10,000 direct users, while allowing for continuous improvement and future expansion as the GOES-R mission evolves. The company is offering a low-risk, high-technology solution that has been prototyped and displayed in the GOES-R lab in Melbourne, Florida.