Two antenna technology companies, Harris Corporation [NYSE: HRS] and General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies, have teamed to pursue a 10-year program for the ground antennas that will support the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite — R (GOES-R). Harris, an international communications and information technology company, is the prime contractor on the team.

The Ground Segment Antenna System is one of three National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) procurements that comprise the overall GOES-R Ground Segment Project, which will play a vital role in delivering more timely and accurate weather service to the public in the near future. The other procurements are the Access Subsystem and the Ground Segment. Harris was awarded a potential $736 million contract in May for the Ground Segment, which encompasses the design, development, and deployment of the ground infrastructure that will provide for the receipt, processing, product generation and distribution of weather data and products to more than 10,000 direct users. The Ground Segment will also provide mission command and control for the orbiting GOES-R spacecraft. NOAA has not yet released the RFP for the GOES-R Access Subsystem.

If selected for the antenna system segment, the Harris/General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies team will provide six new 16- to 18-meter antennas, associated equipment, and site preparation services at the GOES-R primary data reception site in Wallops, Virginia, and at a remote backup site in West Virginia. These antennas will receive data from the new generation of GOES-R satellites and transmit that data to the Ground Segment, where it will be interpreted and prepared for dissemination. The antennas also will transmit and receive all satellite command, health, and status information from the Ground Segment to the satellites. The new antennas at Wallops will also be used to support the current GOES mission.

The Harris/General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies team also would upgrade four 9-meter antennas for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland, in support of the GOES-R broadcast mission. Work on the Ground Segment Antenna System Project is expected to begin in 2010. The first launch of a GOES-R series satellite is scheduled for 2015.

"As the prime contractor for the Ground Segment of GOES-R, Harris has an in-depth understanding of the GOES-R program. A leader in multiband hurricane-related antennas, General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies brings to the team their experience of being the provider of the current generation of GOES ground terminals," said Carl D'Alessandro, vice president, Environmental/Energy Solutions, Harris Government Communications Systems. "We are confident that the Harris/General Dynamics team represents the highest-value, lowest-risk solution for the GOES-R Ground Segment Antenna System Project."

Today's GOES satellites provide the images and time-lapse sequences commonly used in television weather forecasts, familiar to most Americans. The satellites are the primary tool used by NOAA to detect and track hurricanes, thunderstorms, tornadoes and other severe weather in the continental U.S. and the western hemisphere. The next-generation 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 during normal weather conditions, and every 30 seconds during periods of severe weather.