Nortel wins NOAA support work

Nortel Government Solutions Inc. won a $3 million contract from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to deliver systems engineering and software development for ground systems that support weather satellites.

Under the contract, Nortel Government Solutions of Fairfax, Va., will develop, test and deploy enhanced-sensor processing systems for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites.

The most critical enhancements will include support for extended operation of the GOES-10 satellite after repositioning later this year as part of NOAA's Earth Observation Partnership of the Americas. This is expected to help protect lives and property in North, Central and South America by improving satellite detection of natural events, ranging from severe storms and droughts to landslides and wildfires.

Continuous operation of GOES-10 using a new ground-based motion compensation capability will improve the quantity and quality of data available to Latin American partners for better weather forecasts. That could help limit the impact of natural disasters and improve energy and water resource management.

"Few people realize the impact the GOES satellites have on our daily lives and how critical they are to disaster preparedness, said Chuck Saffell, CEO of Nortel Government Solutions. "This project will refresh the ground systems technology and help extend the operational lifetime of GOES-10 and other GOES satellites."

Nortel Government Solutions ranks No. 69 on Washington Technology's 2006 Top 100 list of the largest federal IT contractors.