Harris Corporation is the prime contractor and systems integrator for the 10-year contract to produce the National Oceanic (News - Alert) and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite – R Series (GOES-R) Ground Segment.

The company has announced the completion of its Critical Design Review, which will soon start with the implementation phase.

With over 45 years experience in providing satellite ground data processing and mission command and control systems, Harris Corporation was awarded the Ground Segment portion of the GOES-R Systems Acquisition and Operations contract by NOAA in May 2009. GOES-R is the next generation of NOAA's ongoing GOES system.

The GOES satellites are the primary tools used for the detection and tracking of hurricanes and other severe weather in the continental United States and western hemisphere.

The Harris team’s ground segment features a low risk, cost-effective and high-performance architecture that is ready to meet the requirements of the new system with the flexibility and scalability to meet the changing needs of the GOES-R mission, as it evolves over its more than 20-year lifespan.

The first launch of the GOES-R series satellite is scheduled for 2015. Harris is said to have completed the design review milestone on schedule and within budget.

The Critical Design Review (CDR) is a formal technical review of the detailed design of the Ground Segment. Successful completion of the CDR establishes a firm design baseline for advancing to the implementation phase of the program.

As indicated, it is the culmination of more than 70 software and hardware design reviews, as well as operational reviews of the mission management, product generation, product distribution, enterprise management and infrastructure capabilities.

"This milestone establishes the detailed design of the Ground Segment, including hardware, software and operations designs," said Ray Thorpe, vice president of GOES-R programs at Harris Government Communications Systems (News - Alert). "During the CDR, Harris also demonstrated early deployment of key functions of the system, illustrating its design maturity and efforts to reduce risk."

Harris is a recognized leader in satellite ground data processing and mission command-and-control systems. The company's ground data processing systems consist of complex suites of hardware and software that receive sensor data from satellites, turning it into useable information.

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