Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] has been selected by NASA to develop and build the nation’s next generation weather satellite constellation, Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO), for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The baseline contract is for three spacecraft with options for four additional spacecraft. The total estimated value of the contract including options is $2.27 billion.
The GeoXO mission will continue and expand upon critical observations of weather provided by the Lockheed Martin-built GOES-R Series geostationary satellites to include new observations of our oceans and air pollution. GeoXO’s new capabilities will deliver more accurate weather forecasting and address emerging environmental issues and challenges that threaten our economy and safety. GeoXO and the nation’s weather satellites are vital infrastructure for national resilience.
“Our team is excited and ready to move forward to design and field this critical national capability,” said Kyle Griffin, vice president and general manager of Commercial Civil Space at Lockheed Martin. “Our GeoXO design draws heavily from what we’ve learned with GOES-R spacecraft over the last 15 years, while incorporating new, digital technologies not only onboard the vehicles but in the design and development of this powerful, weather-monitoring platform of the future.”
GeoXO represents an expansion of our nation’s geostationary weather satellite enterprise, its capabilities and continued U.S. technological leadership. The geostationary constellation will help NOAA provide better, more accurate information on severe weather patterns, marine ecosystems, air quality and our changing climate.
With new instruments onboard, the observatories will have a major impact including: the first geostationary observations of our coastal ecosystems that supports resilient coastal communities, near real-time hyperspectral sounding to map the state of the atmosphere, enhanced lightning observations for severe convection monitoring, and continental U.S.-wide observations of harmful pollutants in the air we breathe.
The first GeoXO launch is planned for the early 2030s and will maintain and advance NOAA’s critical geostationary observations through the late 2050s.
The GeoXO spacecraft is based on Lockheed Martin’s modernized LM2100™ satellite bus, which provides more performance and flexibility for addressing NOAA’s mission needs over the coming decades. The platform features SmartSatTM technology that enables new software pushes and capabilities as environmental data needs change over time.
For more than 50 years, Lockheed Martin has built and launched more than 120 weather and environmental spacecraft for our government’s civil and military agencies.
The GOES-R mission provided the first lightning observations from GEO, the ability to detect remote wildland fire ignitions, and unprecedented tracking of severe weather that have proven indispensable to the nation and sets a new bar for future expectations from the public, forecasters, and researchers who depend on the geostationary weather mission.
The launch of the fourth and final spacecraft in the series, GOES-U, is scheduled for June 25, 2024, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida.