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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Previous Activity
- Sep 2024: Industry Day
- Dec 2023: Request for Information
- Nov 2023: Industry Day
- Sep 2022: Request for Information
- Sep 2020: Request for Information
- May 2018: Request for Information – CWDP & Other NOAA Requirements
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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Previous Activity
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)
- 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
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)
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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Previous Activity
- Jul 2024: Request for Proposal
- Jul 2021: Sources Sought Notice – Microwave Sounder
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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Previous Activity
- July 2022: Contract Awards
- May 2022: Request for Proposal
- Apr 2022: Pre-Announcement of RFP
- Nov 2021: Request for Information
- Oct 2020: Legislation on Commercial Space Weather Data Pilot (PDF, page 11)
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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Previous Activity
- Sept 2023: Contract Award
- Aug 2023: Request for Proposals
- Jul 2023: Request for Information