BAE Systems Awarded $450M Contract to Develop Ocean Color Instrument for NOAA

BAE Systems will develop an ocean color instrument for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Geostationary Extended Observations satellite program.

The NASA-awarded contract, worth approximately $450 million, covers the development of two flight instruments with options for more units. It also includes 10 years of on-orbit operations and five years of on-orbit storage for each model.

Services required under the contract include developing, building, testing and operating the GeoXO Ocean Color instrument, as well as supporting its launch and mission operations, NASA said.

The GeoXO OCX will monitor U.S. coastal waters, the exclusive economic zone and the Great Lakes, providing data on ocean biology, chemistry and ecology.

Offering updates every three hours, the instrument will track changes in ocean biology and coastal dynamics and aid in climate-driven ocean and coastal ecosystem response, supporting ecological forecasters, marine resource managers and various industries.

NOAA will fund and manage the program while NASA and commercial partners will develop, build and launch the instruments and spacecraft.

The contract work will be performed at the BAE Systems site in Boulder, Colorado, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with an expected launch in the early 2030s.