NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
NOAA/National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, Suitland, MD

June 18, 1997

LOCKHEED MARTIN SELECTED TO BUILD SOLAR X-RAY IMAGER

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have awarded a $54 million contract to Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space, Palo Alto, CA, for the development and delivery of solar- imaging instruments for future U. S. weather satellites.

The Solar X-Ray Imager instruments would be carried aboard upcoming NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES-N, O, P and Q.)

The Solar X-Ray Imager instrument will take full-disk images of the Sun every minute. The data will be used by NOAA and the U.S. Air Force for solar forecasting and monitoring of special events such as solar flares or geomagnetic storms. The ability to monitor and forecast such events is valuable to operators and users of military and civilian radio and satellite communications systems, navigation systems and power networks, as well as to astronauts, high-altitude aviators and scientists.

The total basic contract value of $54,229,000 provides funding for an engineering model instrument and two flight instruments. In addition, there are two priced options, each for one additional instrument. The contract is a hybrid Cost Plus Award Fee/Incentive Fee agreement.

The incentive fee portion is a "structured cost incentive," whereby the contractor would pay a portion of cost overruns. Also, the U.S. government would receive a payback of the earned award fee in the event of an on-orbit instrument failure.

The Solar X-Ray Imager acquisition is a partnership between NASA and NOAA. The NASA Goddard GOES Project Office is responsible for the acquisition of the instrument and oversight of the contract, and will support NOAA during the post-launch operations phase. NOAA is responsible for determining the technical requirements for the Solar X-Ray Imager, funding the contract, operating the instrument in orbit, and disseminating and using the instrument data.

Other companies submitting proposals were Ball Aerospace Systems Division, Boulder, CO; Hughes Aircraft Company, Santa Barbara Remote Sensing, Santa Barbara, CA; and Panametrics, Inc., Waltham, MA.

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