FAIRBANKS -- The operator of the NOAA satellite facility north of Fairbanks is changing. That will require 54 employees at the site to reapply for their jobs.
A subsidiary of the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. won the contract for the Fairbanks Satellite Operations Facility. The winning bid could be worth as much as $34.3 million over four years.
A subsidiary of the Aleut Corp. has been the operator of the facility for the past eight years.
Workers in charge of operations and maintenance, along with facility security, are being given layoff notices. It will be up to the ASRC companies to determine whether they're rehired.
More than $1 billion worth of satellite and electronics equipment is located at the facility.
According to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, the facility shares data from circumpolar-orbiting satellites with federal agencies including the National Weather Service, Coast Guard and Department of Defense.
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Information from: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com
