The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is a U.S. government agency focused on science-based services and environmental intelligence. Within the space industry, NOAA plays a vital role in monitoring and forecasting space weather through its Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). NOAA operates a network of satellites, including the GOES and DSCOVR, to track solar activity and its potential impacts on Earth, providing alerts and warnings to various sectors like satellite operations, power grids, and communication systems. NOAA collaborates with NASA and commercial partners on space weather programs like the Space Weather Next program, ensuring continuous space-based observations.
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In 2020, NOAA selected GeoOptics to lead an end-to-end design study for NOAA’s next-generation low-orbiting weather satellite system planned to come online later this decade that builds in part on RO and GNSS-R technologies.
In February 2021, NOAA selected GeoOptics to provide the first commercial satellite data to be included in NOAA operational forecasts.
CICERO-2 is designed to provide high-priority NOAA climate and weather monitoring observations and to support Defense Department satellite weather data requirements.
The GAO recommended that NOAA and NASA develop procedures for providing technical input for spectrum rulemaking.
In 2020, NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and European partners including ESA launched the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite to collect the most accurate data on global sea level.
Companies that received NOAA contracts in 2020 included Ball Aerospace, L3Harris Technologies, Raytheon Technologies, Lockheed Martin, Maxar Technologies, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics, and York Space Systems.
NOAA awarded more than a dozen companies six-month contracts in 2020 worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide information on miniature sounders, satellite constellations, and pricing for supplying weather data from commercial constellations.
NOAA established SounderSat in its Satellite Observing System Architecture study as a concept for small satellites equipped with sounders to provide atmospheric temperature and moisture soundings.
NOAA plans to launch the three remaining JPSS satellites in 2022, 2027, and 2032.
Additional companies that received NOAA contracts in 2020 included Atmospheric Sciences and Technology Corp., BAE Systems, and Brandywine Photonics.
NOAA announced on 2021-06-25 plans to move the agency’s GOES-T satellite into an operational role as soon as possible.
NOAA continuously observes the United States, Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and large portions of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans using two satellites operating in tandem from the GOES East and GOES West orbital slots.
On 2021-06-25, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration plans to move its geostationary weather satellite scheduled to launch in December into an operational role as soon as possible.
Rick Spinrad was nominated to be administrator of NOAA and undersecretary for oceans and atmosphere at the Department of Commerce on April 22.
The Senate confirmed Rick Spinrad as the administrator of NOAA on June 17.
NOAA, NASA, and the Department of Defense began a joint effort more than 20 years ago to acquire the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) to support civilian and military agencies.
If approved, GEO-XO-Central would fly NOAA’s first operational hyperspectral sounder in geostationary orbit.
NOAA plans a next-generation geostationary weather satellite constellation scheduled to begin launching in 2032.
The atmospheric composition sensor on GEO-XO-Central would be NOAA’s first such sensor on a geostationary satellite and would support improved air quality forecasts.
NOAA plans to purchase three GEO-XO spacecraft of the same design.