NOAA Taps KBR to Build Space Weather Antenna Network

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded KBR a $51.2 million contract to build and operate an antenna network to help provide accurate space weather forecasts.

KBR’s space weather follow-on antenna network is being built to transmit continuous mission data with the SWFO-Lagrange 1 observatory and its ground segment. It is expected to perform telemetry, command and ranging services for the observatory’s operations, KBR said Thursday.

The SWFO-L1 spacecraft, which the antenna network will be supporting, is set to be deployed in space in the future to monitor signs of solar storms. Using a suite of instruments, the spacecraft will make in-situ measurements of the solar wind thermal plasma and magnetic field and detect coronal mass ejections.

If all options are exercised, work for the cost-plus-fixed-fee for contract will be completed in five years. Contract work will be carried out in facilities in Fulton and Suitland in Maryland, as well as in Wallops, Virginia, and Fairmont, West Virginia.

KBR Global Government Solutions President Byron Bright, a Potomac Officers Club member and 2021 Wash100 winner, said in a statement that the contract will serve as an opportunity for the company to use its scientific and technological expertise to build a better world. 

“Accurate space weather data helps protect national security and our economic well-being,” Bryon said. 

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, KBR is an organization with a 29,000-strong workforce that offers a wide range of professional services and solutions to customers across the aerospace and defense, industrial, data science and federal and civilian markets.