NOAA Names 14 Commercial Providers to Five-Year Weather Data Contract

NOAA has selected 14 commercial satellite companies to supply weather data across seven categories under an expanded procurement aimed at improving forecasting. The move deepens the agency's reliance on privately operated constellations to gather environmental observations rather than building all the capability in house.

NOAA announced the partner companies for the Space-Based Environmental Monitoring indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract on September 10. The award represents an expansion of how NOAA procures commercial data. The contract carries a five-year base period beginning September 1, with a five-year option that extends the arrangement through August 31, 2036.

The seven categories cover distinct sensing methods and applications. Five companies are eligible to provide GNSS-radio occultation data for atmosphere profiling and ionospheric space weather: Spire Global, PlanetiQ, Ethereal Space, Precursor SPC, and Tomorrow.io. Spire, Tomorrow.io, and Muon Space are eligible to provide GNSS-reflectometry data for land and ocean surface observations. Four companies can provide microwave sounder data for traditional and hyperspectral atmospheric temperature and moisture measurements: Spire Global, Tomorrow.io, BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems, and Weather Stream.

Five companies were named for multispectral imagery, which includes low-light and wildland fire applications: Ethereal Space, Tomorrow.io, Muon Space, Hydrosat, and Tropical Weather Analytics. Spire Global, PlanetiQ, Ethereal Space, and SpaceX were named for thermospheric neutral density data used in satellite orbit predictions. Four companies, Tomorrow.io, Care Weather Technologies, Iceye US, and Umbra Lab, were named for scatterometry, altimetry, synthetic aperture radar, and K/Ka/Ku-band radar to measure atmospheric features. No vendors were named for infrared sounders, which provide atmospheric vertical temperature and moisture profiles.

Taylor Jordan, NOAA assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction, said the agency is maximizing the impact and value of high-quality environmental data provided by commercial partners for the benefit of the American weather enterprise. Jordan said NOAA will support data streams and projects that harness cutting-edge instruments and science that advances its mission to protect lives, safeguard property, and strengthen the nation's economy and national security.

The award signals how NOAA is buying environmental data as a commercial service and spreading demand across more than a dozen operators, continuing the agency's shift toward purchasing commercial data to improve weather forecasting.

The infrared sounder category remains open, with no vendors selected. The contract's five-year base period runs through the option that could extend the arrangement to August 31, 2036.