Technology will increase meteorological knowledge and improve forecasting accuracy

The Team GOES-R partnership led by Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) has submitted its proposal to develop the ground segment for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's next- generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series known as GOES-R.

Scheduled for launch in 2015, GOES-R will include significant advancements in technology to provide sustained, reliable collection, analysis and distribution of data from the atmosphere, oceans, land and sun.The ground segment includes systems for command and control of the satellites, receiving and processing data, and generation and dissemination of improved environmental products to operational users within minutes. High-priority products can be delivered within seconds of the instrument observations.

"Building on our 40 years of experience as an industry leader in high- availability precision satellite ground command, control and data processing systems, Raytheon will develop and deploy a low-risk GOES-R ground segment tailored to meet NOAA's needs and ensure mission continuity," said Michael D. Keebaugh, president of Raytheon's Intelligence and Information Systems business. "Raytheon's proposal solidifies our long-time partnership with and commitment to the NOAA mission."

GOES-R satellites will provide more frequent and higher quality observations for more accurate forecasting and tracking of hurricanes and other severe weather. They will also enhance observational capabilities for oceans and coasts, the global climate, and the space environment.

With rapid rescan capability, weather forecasters will be able to review updated severe weather activity five times more quickly than today. For example, GOES-R could rescan regional areas of the Midwest for severe thunderstorm outbreaks every five minutes instead of the current 26 minutes. The GOES-R contract is scheduled to be awarded in the first quarter of 2009.