Commercial Data Program (CDP)
NOAA’s Commercial Data Program (CDP) successfully engages with the commercial sector through pilots and acquisition of operational satellite data-as-a-service for commercial data to help improve weather forecasts and provide risk reduction to the overall observing system.
The program includes two lines of effort: Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) demonstrations of the quality and impact of commercial data on weather forecast models; and Commercial Data Purchase in support of operational weather forecasting.
Commercial Purchase: Radio Occultation Data Buy II (RODB-2, 2023-2028)
Delivery Order-2
On Wednesday, April 12, 2023, NOAA awarded a 6-month Delivery Order-2 (DO-2) contract to Space Sciences and Engineering LLC (PlanetiQ) under the Radio Occultation Data Buy II (RODB-2) Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract.
NOAA will acquire 3,100 radio occultation (RO) profiles per day (Neutral Atmosphere Data only) with an implementation data sharing license #1 (unlimited distribution rights). The data delivery period shall be for 184 days running from Tuesday, July 18, 2023, through Thursday, January 18, 2024.
The fifth and final delivery order (DO-5) of RODB IDIQ-1 is currently in execution and will end on July 18, 2023. Spire Global Subsidiary Inc. was awarded DO-5 and is currently delivering 3,300 profiles per day with an implementation data sharing license #1.
Subsequent Delivery Orders off of the RODB-2 IDIQ contracts will be released throughout the five-year contract period at NOAA’s discretion.
On March 23, 2023, NOAA announced the award of the RODB-2 IDIQ contracts. NOAA awarded two, five-year RODB-2 IDIQ contracts with a total maximum value of $59,312,954 to Space Sciences and Engineering LLC (PlanetiQ) and Spire Global Subsidiary Inc.
On Monday, March 27, 2023, NOAA announced the awards of two RODB-2 Delivery Order 1-Test (DO-1T) contracts to Space Sciences and Engineering LLC (PlanetiQ) and Spire Global Subsidiary Inc. To prepare for a full operational stream of GNSS RO data, NOAA awarded these two DO-1T firms-fixed price delivery orders to Spire and to PlanetiQ for 500 GNSS RO profiles per day for 30 consecutive days; DO-1T commenced on Wednesday, April 5, 2023.
Previous Activity
- Mar 2023: Delivery Order 1-Test to PlanetiQ and Spire Global
- Mar 2023: Contract Awards
- Jul 2022: Request for Proposal
- Dec 2021: Draft Statement of Work
CWDP Future Rounds (2023-2030)
Request for Information
On September 15, 2022, NOAA issued a Request for Information (RFI) soliciting information on existing or planned commercial satellite environmental data and related capabilities that will be available in the FY2023 through FY2030 timeframe, and that may help NOAA meet its diverse mission objectives.
Responses to this RFI will be used to inform a potential Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) project for terrestrial weather applications, as well as future pilots for space weather and other applications. NOAA may use the results of the RFI to inform multiple future Requests for Proposals for acquisition of commercial data and related capabilities.
NOAA is interested in commercially-provided data and related capabilities to augment NOAA’s capabilities in these areas:
- Atmosphere
- Cryosphere
- Land and Surface Hydrology
- Oceans, Freshwater, and Coasts
- Space
Responses are due October 31, 2022.
CWDP Round 3: Space Weather Data (2022-2027)
Contract Awards to GeoOptics, PlanetiQ, & Spire
On July 14, 2022, NOAA awarded three Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) space weather contracts to GeoOptics Inc. (Pasadena, CA), Space Sciences and Engineering LLC, dba PlanetiQ (Golden, CO), and Spire Global Subsidiary, Inc (San Francisco, CA). These contract awards constitute the next round of NOAA’s CWDP studies with a particular focus on space weather data. Read more
Previous Activity
- May 2022: Request for Proposal
- Apr 2022: Pre-Announcement of RFP
- Nov 2021: Request for Information
- Jul 2021: Sources Sought Notice – Microwave Sounder
- Oct 2020: Legislation on Commercial Space Weather Data Pilot (PDF, page 11)
- Sep 2020: Request for Information
- May 2018: Request for Information – CWDP & Other NOAA Requirements
Commercial Purchase: Radio Occultation Data Buy (RODB-1, 2020-2022)
- Sep 2022: Delivery Order 5 to Spire Global
- Feb 2022: Delivery Order 4 to GeoOptics & Spire Global
- Feb 2022: Cost-Benefit Analysis
- Aug 2021: Delivery Order 3 Award to Spire Federal
- Feb 2021: Delivery Order 2 Award to GeoOptics
- Nov 2020: Contract Awards to GeoOptics & Spire Global; Delivery Order 1
- Aug 2020: Request for Proposal
- Apr 2020: Draft Statement of Work
CWDP Round 2: Radio Occultation Data (2018-2019)
- Jun 2020: Summary of Results
- Sep 2018: Contract Awards to GeoOptics, Spire Global, & Space Sciences and Engineering
- Apr 2018: Final Request for Proposals
- Jun 2017: Industry Day
- May 2017: Draft Request for Proposals
New Legislation
CWDP Round 1: Radio Occultation Data (2016-2018)
- Sept 2016: Contract Awards to GeoOptics & Spire Global
- July 2016: Request for Quotation
- July 2016: Industry Day
- June 2016: Draft Request for Quotation
- May 2016: Request for Information
- Mar 2016: Report to Congress – Initial Execution Plan
- Dec 2015: Originating Legislation (23 MB PDF, p. 44)