Harris wins DOD meteorological satellite work

Harris Corp. won a five-year, $10.7 million contract from the Defense Department for technical and engineering support for its meteorological satellite program.

Under the follow-on contract, Harris of Melbourne, Fla., will manage, maintain and repair the system's ground equipment and software. The ground system provides command and control of the satellites, and receives and distributes payload data and real-time telemetry required to assess how well the satellites are functioning.

The Ground Systems Engineering and Depot Services II contract also covers ground systems support for WindSat/Coriolis, a demonstration project to measure wind speed and wind direction of the surface of the oceans from space.

The polar orbiting satellites of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, together with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's polar-orbiting environmental satellite system, provide near real-time meteorological and environmental data critical to military and civilian agencies, the company said.

The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program is a DOD program run by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. It is responsible for satellites that monitor meteorological, oceanographic and solar-terrestrial physics environments.

Harris ranks No. 21 on Washington Technology's 2007 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.