NOAA Commercial Data Program (CDP)

As of September 2025, the NESDIS Commercial Data Program’s online presence has migrated to the NOAA NESDIS website. This page will no longer be updated. To access the latest updates and information, please visit https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/data-research-services/commercial-data-program.

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;
  • Commercial Data Purchase in support of operational weather forecasting.

The December 2024 Guidance for NOAA Commercial Data Buys lays out the considerations, best practices, and guidelines which NOAA programs and offices should consider when engaging in commercial data buy opportunities from sources that contribute to environmental intelligence.

In April 2025, NOAA announced plans to procure commercial GNSS radio occultation data-as-a-service from diverse and coordinated orbits, including the equatorial, polar and mid-latitude regions. Learn more


Latest


General/Other Requests for Information

Request for Information

On March 14, 2025, NOAA issued a Request for Information (RFI) soliciting information on commercial satellite environmental data and related capabilities available in the FY2026 through FY2032 timeframe that are currently on-orbit or planned to be on-orbit.
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Legislation

Radio Occultation Data

Commercial Purchase: Radio Occultation Data Buy II (RODB-2, 2023-2028)

RODB-2 IDIQ Delivery Order-5 Contract Awards

On September 3, 2025, the NOAA NESDIS Commercial Data Program (CDP) announced two awards for the Radio Occultation (RO) Data Buy 2 (RODB-2) Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Delivery Order 5 (DO-5) totaling $35,536,400 to support weather forecasting and space weather applications. These firm fixed price contracts include 10,000 near-real-time global navigation satellite system (GNSS) RO data profiles per day of neutral atmosphere data in which 500 of the 10,000 have enhanced signal-noise ratios, and 2,500 Total Electron Content ionospheric measurements per day with unlimited data rights.
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Mar 2025: Request for Information
Sep 2024: Delivery Order 4 to PlanetiQ and Spire Global
May 2024: On-Ramping Opportunity
Jan 2024: Delivery Order 3 to Spire
Sep 2023: On-Ramping Opportunity
Apr 2023: Delivery Order 2 to PlanetiQ
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

April 2025: Statement on the Release of the Radio Occultation Analysis of Alternatives Phase 1 Report Summary

Commercial Purchase: Radio Occultation Data Buy (RODB-1, 2020-2022)

CWDP Round 2: Radio Occultation Data (2018-2019)

CWDP Round 1: Radio Occultation Data (2016-2018)

Microwave Sounder

CWDP Round 5: Microwave Sounder (2024-)

Contract Awards

On September 17, 2024, NOAA awarded contracts totaling $4,266,400 to purchase Microwave Sounder (MWS) data from two commercial satellite companies in support of new Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) studies. The first contract for $2,266,400 is to Tomorrow.io of Boston, MA. The second contract for $2,000,000 is to Orbital Micro Systems of Boulder, CO.
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Space Weather Data

CWDP Round 3: Space Weather Data (2022-2027)

NOAA Releases Space Weather Data Pilot Results

In August 2024, NOAA released the summary of the results of the Space Weather Data Pilot conducted under the Commercial Data Program NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). In this Pilot, NOAA evaluated space weather parameters derived from procured GNSS radio occultation data.
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Ocean Surface Winds

Ocean Surface Winds Pilot (2025)

RFP

On June 17, 2025, NOAA issued a Request for Proposals in support of a Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) study related to ocean surface winds (OSW).
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CWDP Round 4: Ocean Surface Winds (2023-2024)

Contract Award

On September 3, 2025, NOAA awarded Commercial Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) Ocean Surface Winds (OSW) Pilot contracts to Muon Space, Inc. of Mountain View, California for $1,998,000, and Spire Global Subsidiary, Inc. of Vienna, Virginia for $2,560,695.
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