The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration aims to take the next step towards cooperation with the commercial sector with the newly awarded contracts.

The evolution of the space industry not only advanced the field but also brought about the commercialisation of it as well. However, there are questions about the expertise and knowledge of these new commercial entrants regarding the space sector. As such, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in its task to evaluate the worth of the space weather data and observation provided by commercial actors as part of a pilot program, has granted Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) space weather contracts to GeoOptics, PlanetIQ and Spire Global. 

According to NOAA, by awarding these contracts, the administration aims to kickstart its cooperation with the commercial sector to gather and study space weather information that will help to achieve its critical space weather forecasting mission. These contracts will have the companies contribute radio occultation measurements that exhibit near-real-time weather conditions in Earth’s ionosphere to the NOAA. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides space weather information, including this 30-minute Aurora Forecast (NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)

The administration is focused on understanding the quality and influence the commercial input will have on the current and future operational space weather models and applications, such as satellite operations, navigation, aviation and communications. 

Initially, during the first round of the Commercial Weather Data Pilot, the primary focus was on determining the value of radio occultation soundings in elevating the quality of terrestrial weather forecasts. And since 2020, GeoOptics and Spire have been selling their radio occultation data to NOAA as well. The data provided by GeoOptics, PlanetIQ and Spire based on their newly awarded contracts, that will last around 12 months, will be analyzed by NOAA. If the CWDP study is successful, CDP may continue to purchase the space weather data to support NOAA’s operational forecasting endeavors.

On a similar note, Dµst is a space management network that also doubles up as a space weather warning system. The Dµst Space Weather Service consists of two main elements:

• an OpenAPI for easy integration and management of alarms, alerts and planning
• and a Persistent Monitor that issues real-time notifications (alerts, warnings and critical information) of current space weather events in the form

These services are of particular importance to satellite operators, as phenomena occurring in Earth’s ionosphere have the potential to impact satellite operations, including communications and orbital decay.