The first light image in brightness temperature was captured by the Cross-track Infrared Sounder instrument on NOAA-21, one of three satellites in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Joint Polar Satellite System. The image shows large-scale waves of upper tropospheric water vapor and clouds over the Earth’s globe. Image generated using NOAA-21 preliminary, nonoperational data. Courtesy: NOAA/NESDIS/STAR/CrIS SDR team

SAN FRANCISCO – Peraton won a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contract with a potential value of nearly $400 million to provide ground services for polar-orbiting weather satellites.

Under the Low Earth Orbit Ground Sustainment Services contract announced Feb. 17, Herndon, Virginia-based Peraton will support and maintain the Joint Polar Satellite System Common Ground Services. JPSS CGS offers communications links for satellites operated by NOAA as well as the agency’s U.S. government and international partners.

The maximum potential value of the NOAA contract, which includes a base period of five years and three 12-month options, is $399.3 million. Peraton’s work will be performed at its own facilities and NOAA facilities across the country. Work under the contract is scheduled to begin March 1.

NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System gathers and distributes environmental data. The JPSS fleet includes Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership mission, launched in 2011, NOAA-20, launched in 2017, and NOAA-21, launched in 2022. NOAA plans to complete the JPSS fleet with satellites slated for launch in 2028 and 2032.

Peraton expanded its role in the space sector with its 2019 acquisition of Solers, a software developer, cloud services and satellite ground systems provider based in Arlington, Virginia.

Debra Werner is a correspondent for SpaceNews based in San Francisco. Debra earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. She...