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Satellite Should Drastically Improve Forecasting

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Dec 3, 2008 5:43 am US/Mountain

Satellite Should Drastically Improve Forecasting

Reporting
Shaun Boyd

LITTLETON, Colo. (CBS4) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: An image of the GOES-R satellite.
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Imagine being able to know not just what the weather will do tomorrow but next week, and with a great degree of certainty. Engineers at Lockheed Martin say they are building a new satellite that will make that possible.

The company landed a $1 billion NASA contract to build a new version of a satellite called Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R-Series, known as GOES-R.

It is based on the same technology that generates satellite imagery used in forecasting by CBS4. The difference is pinpoint accuracy, and it could help save lives and crops.

Engineers at Lockheed Martin say the satellite will have the first lightning mapper -- an instrument that can help predict severe weather.

Warnings for tornados could come hours earlier and for hurricanes they could come days in advance. Meteorologists will be able to tell exactly where the severe weather will hit.

"So we'll be able to see when storm changing course and moving against the way we modeled - much more data six times quicker," Lockheed Martin project manager Amy Flanagan said.

Engineers will begin designing the satellite within the next few weeks. It is scheduled to launch in 2015, and will be used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Lockheed Martin plans to hire more than 100 people in Denver in upcoming years to work on the project.

More Information From Lockheed Martin

The company released the following details about the project on Tuesday:

Lockheed Martin's GOES-R solution builds upon the renowned A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft bus and proven precision imaging capabilities from previous remote sensing programs. The A2100 satellite fleet currently consists of 36 satellites and has achieved an accumulated 200 years of successful in-orbit operations.

"Our team is ready to move forward to design and field this important national system," said Jim Crocker, vice president of Sensing and Exploration Systems at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "We look forward to continuing our ongoing relationship with NOAA and NASA including two previously awarded GOES-R instruments - the Solar Ultra-Violet Imager and the Geostationary Lightning Mapper."

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company has a long history of developing highly reliable civil and military weather and environmental satellite systems including Landsat, TIROS, Terra and DMSP.

The Lockheed Martin GOES-R program office will be located at its Space Systems Company facilities in Newtown, Pa.

While substantial engineering and production effort will be conducted in Newtown, the program will also leverage Space Systems Company capabilities across the country including Denver, Colo. and Sunnyvale, Calif.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2007 sales of $41.9 billion.

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