Exelis Delivers Image Payload for U.S. Weather Satellite; Eric Webster Comments

Exelis has delivered the first of four meteorological payloads for a future U.S. weather satellite of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, moving the program forward toward the planned satellite launch in 2016, Exelis said Tuesday

Eric Webster, Exelis Geospatial Systems vice president for weather systems, said, “Delivery . . . is an important milestone because it moves NOAA closer to providing weather forecasters with information and tools to improve the accuracy and lead time of severe storms.”

The advanced baseline imager payload will be incorporated into the geostationary operational environmental satellite for production of high-resolution weather images.

GOES-R is part of a joint NOAA-NASA program intended to provide around-the-clock monitoring of the West Hemisphere for severe weather situations using infrared satellite imagery.

According to Exelis, NOAA predicts $4.6 billion in potential economic loss avoided with the forecast and data gathering tools of the GOES-R series.

Exelis said the next payload is now in the second stage of environmental testing.