NOAA’s GeoXO program. Photo: NOAA

Ball Aerospace secured two contracts with NASA to support the NOAA’s next-generation geostationary weather satellite constellation under the Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) program.

The space systems manufacturer said on Monday that the contracts require the company to conduct two 20-month studies that will measure Atmospheric Composition (ACX) and Ocean Color (OCX) for GeoXO. This is Ball Aerospace’s third award of this kind, after it was selected in October 2021 for NOAA’s GeoXO Phase A Sounder (GXS) study.

NOAA’s GeoXO program aims to support critical U.S. weather, ocean, and climate operations. Ball Aerospace’s studies will be based on its Ball Operational Weather Instrument Evolution (BOWIE), a series of environmental sensing systems that includes the BOWIE-Ocean Color (BOWIE-OCX) and BOWIE-Atmospheric Composition (BOWIE-ACX) hyperspectral passive imaging instruments, and the hyperspectral IR sounder, BOWIE-GXS.

“These studies are just the first steps in NOAA’s efforts to improve the nation’s ability to monitor, forecast and understand the conditions impacting weather, climate and health; from air and water quality to coastline health,” said Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, vice president and general manager of Ball’s Civil Space division. “As weather events become increasingly unpredictable and extreme, we need to keep building better monitoring and forecasting tools. The instruments we are helping to define and design will be critical in NOAA’s commitment to building a weather-ready nation.”

Last week, NASA awarded Lockheed Martin and Maxar Technologies contracts to develop the concepts for NOAA’s GeoXO program.