Chosen By NASA, Lockheed Martin Will Create An Spacecraft For NOAA's GeoXO Program

Lockheed Martin will develop the aircraft for the NOAA satellite (photo: dock. NASA)

JAKARTA Lockheed Martin, a space company in Colorado, was selected as a spacecraft developer to support satellite programs from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Elected directly by NASA, the plane developed by Lockheed will be used for the launch mission of the Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite. Lockheed will build three additional spacecraft and four aircraft. The award contract NASA submitted is worth about US$2.27 billion (Rp37.1 trillion) with a support period of 15 years. The contract spans ten years of operating support in orbit and five years of storage in orbit. NASA explains that the GeoXO constellation will cover three operational regions, including the east, west, and central regions. Each Lockheed-designed aircraft will be directed to a different region with different instruments as well. The spacecraft for the central region will carry infrared sounders and atmospheric composition instruments, while the spacecraft for the eastern and western regions will carry imagers, lightning mappers, and marine color instruments.

The contracts given to Lockheed Martin do not only explain the manufacture of spacecraft. The private company must design, analyze, integrate, test, evaluate, and support satellite launches. Lockheed will also provide engineering development units, provide and maintain equipment and support simulators on the ground, and support NOAA mission operations from the Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland.