NESDIS CDP Industry Day 2026_Q_A.pdf

NESDIS CDP Industry Day 2026

Questions from Participants Answers Does the commercial data program have an emphasis on systems that can specifically improve coverage over hurricanes / TC

Supporting our weather forecast models are our top priority and that includes hurricanes. Forecasting is one of our higher priorities and we do take that into account when we're determining what to pilot and what data to purchase. - Answered during Q&A session

As a CSDA on-ramped provider, and based on the earlier answer, does NOAA look through the data available from CSDA program to see if the meet a need you have and contact the vendors through the CSDA group, or should we actively pursue and submit on the new RFPs that are dropped (and reference the CSDA program)?

NOAA NESDIS CDP collaborates with NASA CSDA and other partner agencies for commercial efforts and leverages their evaluations, pilots and purchases when possible. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

Will the slide decks be available and will the unanswered questions (like mine) be answered offline?

Slides will be posted on sam.gov in the same location as these Q&A. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

Can you convert a previously awarded NOAA contract to the new protech IDIQ DaaS model without recompeting or will it need to be resubmitted?

This would be a new requirements so it would need to be resubmitted. We do have an ongoing on ramping process for various capabilities and we will evaluate those proposals during that time. - Answered during Q&A session

Could NOAA clarify the rationale for requiring pricing at the IDIQ level rather than at the task order level? Given the dynamic nature of commercial space capabilities and the variability in data requirements across different orbits and missions, would it be more advantageous to qualify vendors based on technical capabilities alone at the IDIQ level, and then compete pricing when specific task order requirements are defined? This approach could potentially maximize vendor participation and ensure pricing reflects actual mission parameters.

NOAA evaluates pricing at the IDIQ level to satisfy **FAR requirements** for establishing price reasonableness and to provide a necessary competitive baseline for budgetary oversight. This structure ensures regulatory compliance while still allowing vendors to offer mission-specific discounts and refined pricing at the Task Order level to account for evolving technical requirements.- Q&A session ended before able to answer

Can task orders for planned missions with limited satellite lifespans (e.g. 3 years) be extended to enable satellite replenishment investments, or is recompete required?

It depends on the wording we put in the task order. If it's most beneficial to extend the current task order or if we need to put out a new solicitation. - Answered during Q&A session

Could you explain the lower right hand figure on slide 23 on RO gaps? global refresh vs time and daily profiles vs tim

The chart stems from the Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) that we performed for RO. The chart illustrates what would occur if today’s purchases remained as status-quo. For the AoA purposes, the chart assumes continual degradation of COSMIC-2, additions/subtractions from MetOp and loss of other partner missions, notably Paz and KOMPSAT. It also assumes a baseline of 10K Commercial RO p/day, all within the 0930-1100 LTAN window. It does not take into account much from other partner missions (e.g., TerraSAR, TANDEM, GRACE-FO, Sentinel-6). As we move through time and assuming that the satellites degrade as predicted and no changes in our Commercial RO acquisitions (e.g., 10K all in the mid-AM orbit), you see a gradual drop in total counts to 15K by the early 2030s, but global 6-hr refresh drops from today’s 75% down to under 40%. This highlights the importance of having a well-distributed global system for GNSS-RO observations. - Answered via email after session

Does NESDIS perform market research on other commercial entities that would like to purchase earth observation data? If so, what requirement synergies are considered? Is the a mechanism to align on requirements?

We do partner with other government agencies who are also conducting market research. We are able to collaborate on all of our market research. - Answered during Q&A session

Does ProTech have any specific eligibility requirements regarding proposal entity size? E.g., only small businesses?

That'll be defined in the RFP, but I believe it was stated earlier. This one will be full and open, not a small business side. The draft has a reserve for small business. - Answered during Q&A session http://sam.gov/ http://sam.gov/ http://sam.gov/ http://sam.gov/ http://sam.gov/

Does the government anticipate that the final RFP for ProTech SBEM to still be released on April 24? Will industry need to respond to both the IDIQ solicitation and the TO1 at the same time? What is the anticipated due date for the proposal response for the ProTech SBEM IDIQ and the TO1?

The Government maintains a target release date of April 24, 2026, for the Final RFP. It is intended that proposals for both the IDIQ solicitation and Task Order 1 (TO1) will be submitted concurrently on the same date. The formal proposal due date will be established within the Final RFP. - Q&A session ended before able to answer

For clarification: with a 5 year IDIQ contract and the +5 year option for ordering past 2031, is the potential maximum ordering period 10 years?

Yes, the maximum order period would be for 10 years. The last Task Order of the IDIQ may have a PoP beyond the IDIQ PoP - Answered during Q&A session

Could you possibly speak to the current use of data from active sensors (SAR, altimetry) at NOAA/NWS?

NOAA uses commercial SAR data to supplement its observations, in applications such as monitoring oil spills, flood inundation, maritime safety, ice analysis, and disaster response. NOAA's Office of Space Commerce also regulates and licenses U.S. commercial SAR operators. NOAA utilizes high-resolution commercial imagery and data products that are co-acquired through partnerships with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

For future opportunities you listed Multispectral, what potential data gaps is NOAA looking to potentially fill with multispectral?

NOAA NESDIS CDP is currently soliciting for WildFire applications for Multi-spectral imagery as we look to fulfill a critical need to assist in WildFire response. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member.

When we looked at the wildfires RFP, we saw a small business restriction, this limits some of the larger data providers from competing, can companies over the NAICS threshold reply?

For that specific RFP, that one was a total small business set aside. - Answered during Q&A session

With this acquisition, we are not contracting any type of tools. With this acquisition, we are not contracting any type of tools. - Answered during Q&A session

As a follow up would a tailored data-to-ERP planning framework fall within NOAA’s long-term forecasting approach, as opposed to a software acquisition?

This does not pertain to the program; CDP cannot answer on behalf of other NOAA offices.

Have the questions/feedback on the draft SBEM IDIQ TO-1 been posted for public review?

No questions or feedback have been published at this time. The industry feedback period for the draft SBEM IDIQ TO-1 remains open until 1:00 PM EST on April 17, 2026. - Q&A session ended before able to answer

How does the NOAA Cal/Val matrix work with the NASA CSDA evaluations? We're still working internally on the Cal/Val matrix. Our goal is to work closely with NASA on it as well. It's complementary to a degree. I would say that we've made advancements with our cal/val development.

NASA and the Space Force have different requirements from what we're developing and NOAA would really help all of these. NASA's main outputs are reports of the overall Cal/Val that they perform. We do it relative to the application. - Answered during Q&A session

Is GEO-XO actually funded? Or what is the re-incarnation of this program? This does not pertain to the program; CDP cannot answer on behalf of other NOAA offices.

Does NESDIS CDP policy support procurement of data from persistent high-altitude platforms (HAPS) or stratospheric balloons — not single-profile radiosonde data, but continuous or multi-profile observations from a dwell-capable platform? And if so, how does NESDIS evaluate those against the LEO satellite data buys?

NESDIS CDP supports space-based data only, meaning a sensor that is in-orbit. The National Weather Service also has a commercial data program and they handle airborne data and balloon data. Curtis Marshall is the PM if you'd like to reach out to them. - Answered during Q&A session

In NOAA’s experience with commercial data pilots, what portion of a provider’s business model is typically supported by NOAA data purchases? Does NOAA expect commercial providers to rely on multiple customers to sustain their sensing infrastructure?

NOAA NESDIS CDP encourages potential commercial providers to engage with as broad of a customer base as reasonably possible. We can not advise on the specifics on how a company should conduct commerce. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

Does the RFP provide an on-ramp to propose a pilot? How do potential vendors go about assembling and proposing a pilot concept?

The SBEM IDIQ is for both pilots and purchase. Once a vendor is on boarded into a Functional Category, they become eligible to bid on all task orders (to include pilots and purchases) within that Functional Category. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

Is NOAA (NESDIS) exploring partnerships with other agencies like NASA for data sharing? I saw the NASA RFI for Science as a Service (SaaS; SAM Notice ID NNH26ZDA006L) and was curious how that relates to this effort?

We work very closely with NASA, our partners in their CSDA Program. We coordinate very closely with the Space Force as well. Those two organizations are also purchasing Commercial Data, so we're coordinating with them on the data types that we buy, the amounts that we buy. This helps save the government money. We partner with them on our pilots and data evaluations. The more people that can look at the data and help our science teams look at the data faster, the quicker we can transition operations. So that's really our goal is to partner the best we can with our government partners. - Answered during Q&A session

Is NOAA currently coordinating or exploring opportunities for collaboration with the Missile Defense Agency on atmospheric monitoring, early warning, or hazard mitigation initiatives—particularly those related to high altitude or nuclear related atmospheric disturbances such as the Golden Dome program?

NOAA NESDIS CDP collaborates with other partner agencies for commercial efforts and leverages their evaluations, pilots and purchases when possible. We have not, to date, engaged with the Missile Defense Agency. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

Is NOAA interested in low resolution Hyperspectral Data? We are very interested in hyperspectral data. In particular, we're currently going to be looking at hyperspectral microwave sounding data. We're going to have about three months of that data available to us. We do see a lot of value in hyperspectral data. It's just that we still have a lot of science work to do with it and a lot of work to do to transition to operations. As for the low resolution, I don't have that information on what the actual low versus high resolution might be. - Answered during Q&A session

How important is Hyperspectral Data to NOAA? Duplicate question / Answered during Q&A session Is NOAA NESDIS PROTECH 2 On ramp going on and new vendors can submit proposals?

Yes, this is a new ProTech Domain and IDIQ and are accepting proposals from new vendors for this. A good place to start is by reviewing https://www.noaa.gov/acquisition-grants/protech there is a list of all current ProTech Awardees. FAQs by Businesses: https://www.noaa.gov/organization/acquisition-grants/small-business-faq - Answered in Q&A chatbox

Is the NOAA IDIQ itself accepting proposals from new vendors? Yes, this is a new ProTech Domain and IDIQ and are accepting proposals from new vendors for this. A good place to start is by reviewing https://www.noaa.gov/acquisition-grants/protech there is a list of all current ProTech Awardees. FAQs by Businesses: https://www.noaa.gov/organization/acquisition-grants/small-business-faq - Answered in Q&A chatbox

Is the GeoXO lightning mapper being cancelled? This does not pertain to the program; CDP cannot answer on behalf of other NOAA offices.

Is the NOAA NESDIS SBEM team willing to take 1-on-1 meetings with industry? NOAA NESDIS CDP Team can meet with vendors. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

Is the NWS able to purchase in situ and spaced based RADAR observations through this vehicle?

Space-based radar is included as a data type in one of the functional categories, under the active sensors functional category, so please review that section. - Answered during Q&A session

What is the process and what are the tools are you using to conduct the assessment of the trade offs for the pilots?

For pilots, trade offs are identified by the technical team in the pilot SOW development process. When draft SOWs are released one goal is to obtain feedback on how trade offs are expressed in the SOW requirements. One area of assessment tradeoff is data latency. Tradeoffs between data latency and collection quanties are evaluated with the goal of understanding the potential collection amounts and vendor latency capabilities for operational purchasing. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

Is the SBEM IDIQ only soliciting satellite-based data, not professional services at different labor categories and levels?

The SBEM IDIQ is only soliciting for space-based capabilities specifically from sensors operating on-orbit. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

Is there overlap or partnership with NASA's Commercial Data Program? NOAA NESDIS CDP collaborates with NASA CSDA and other partner agencies for commercial efforts and leverages their evaluations, pilots and purchases when possible. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

If a commercial data source provides data and that data creates a unique satellite derived product, does that ensure long term use of the data or will the product stop when the commercial data stops or the commercial mission ends?

Our projection on purchasing data is really based on our budget. It's based on our priorities, so we can't always give a good outlook in 5-10 years of how much we're going to be purchasing with certain data types. We would like to get to that point. We would like to get be more predictable in what we're buying, which is why the new strategy is to have longer term contracts. So that's that is something we want to get

to. Just because we pilot something doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to have budget to purchase that operationally the next year. This has been a challenge for us. We're not certain of what the budget will be the next year. This is something we want to get to, but we are not quite there yet. - Answered during Q&A session

Maybe you'll be talking about this, but to what degree is NOAA planning on continuing to own cal/val vs. working with vendors ahead of time to make sure company cal/val is ready for NOAA needs?

NOAA maintains its role in oversight and independent validation/verfication of vendor's cal/val efforts.

CDP is currently establishing an adaptive and standarized cal/val framework, which aligns commercial data standards with our LEO's Cal/Val strategies. Our objective is to provide commercial partners with clear standards and performance metrics upfront to ensure operational readiness. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

You mentioned that all funding will buy data. I assume that's funding from CDP. Will there be any funding for development outside of CDP (other than SBIR)?

This does not pertain to the program; CDP cannot answer on behalf of other NOAA offices.

Mr. Jordan mentioned the limitations you all are under regarding termination ceiling for multiyear contracts. Could you clarify what you are hoping to see from vendors in their proposals to address your concerns?

What Mr. Jordan was suggesting is that we need to work together to minimize the cancellation ceilings if we use multi-year contracts where we can't fully fund it. To help maximize the budget for actual data, the Government encourages vendors to keep "cancellation fees" (cancellation ceilings) as low as possible in their proposals. When a multi-year project isn't fully funded upfront, these fees require us to set aside money that would otherwise be spent on mission results. Our goal is to work with industry to minimize these potential costs so that more funding stays focused on buying data.- Answered during Q&A session

My company is new to Government Contracting. What is the best way to find Primes that currently have contracts with NOAA to reach out to them for subcontracting opportunities?

A good place to start is by reviewing https://www.noaa.gov/acquisition-grants/protech there is a list of all current ProTech Awardees. FAQs by Businesses: https://www.noaa.gov/organization/acquisition-grants/small-business-faq - Answered in Q&A chatbox

Our satellite constellation is still about two years from launch and producing data.

When should we enter the process for commercial data purchase ? Now or after we have launched our satellites and performed C&V?

You are welcome to propose at any time. As long as you have a credible plan for deployment and to deliver the capabilities. It's really up to you if you have enough specifications that you can put in your proposal. You can propose at any time. It's just a matter of when you actually want to do that. - Answered during Q&A session

Please provide a link to the Risk Assessment published every June. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-107743 - That is the link to the 2025 GAO Risk List - Answered in Q&A chatbox

Should we expect that RODB-2 DO-6 will have quantities similar to the SBEM TO-1, to RODB-2 DO-5, or something else?

In general, expect DO-6 to have similar scope to TO-1. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

We have an coupled weather model - driving forecasts from the space domain all the way through the "ignoro-sphere" and into the troposphere. This model is necessary for the hypersonics domain. Which office at NOAA is the best point of contact?

The National Weather Service Commercial Data Program office, run by Curtis Marshall, may be able to assist you.- Answered during Q&A session

We have submitted a few RFP's and RFI to NOAA in the past only to hear nothing, not even acknowledgement of receiving them. Would you be able to be more responsive to communication with the potential vendors?

NESDIS CDP welcomes prospective vendors to meet with us to discuss. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

What are your data needs in GEO? What Task Orders do you anticipate for data acquired in GTO or GEO?

There really aren't any capabilities commercially available in GEO currently. The SBEM IDIQ contract will allow for all potential orbits including LEO, including GEO. Whatever would best meet the needs of the National Weather Service is within the realm of possibility under this contract. - Answered during Q&A session

What are your plans to accelerate data pilot evaluation and transition to operations?

How do you avoid a gap in timing between the end of a pilot and operational data buy?

NOAA NESDIS CDP is working hard to narrow this gap. However, gaps are inevitable as it takes significant effort and resources to ready operational systems to ingest new data types and/or data types from new sources and then perform validation and impact assessments on those systems. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

What GWAC vehicles do you utilize for solicitations? NOAA currently utilizes the RODB-2 IDIQ vehicles and is actively establishing the new ProTech 2.0 Is NOAA interested in a) purchasing data from commercial data sources or b) tools that help integrate, analyze, and visualize the data or c) outsource data collection services to a data aggregator?

Right now our contract is focused on purchasing the data directly. So we're not buying any software, any development of capabilities or visualization tools with this contract vehicle.

We utilize data that is bought from the source. - Answered during Q&A session

Who at NOAA is responsible for development of capabilities (going from TRL4 to TRL6) which would later be candidate for data buys (i.e. Infrared Sounding)? Would this be the Joint Venture program or a future program associated CWDP through ProTech?

NOAA's Joint Venture Partnerships Program has been advancing technology readiness levels by demonstrating reliability and reducing risks through strategic investments with the commercial sector and federal partners. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

Will NASA remain a Calibration and Validation partner for NOAA, or does industry need to coordinate our own Cal/Val?

NOAA will continue to work with NASA as a partner in cal/val for commercial data, but NOAA maintains its own cal/val processes. Vendors will continue to work with NOAA on cal/val for commercial datasets used by the Agency.

Will Taiwan remain a partner/provider for Equatorial RO? NOAA NESDIS CDP works with several partner agencies to include International agencies. CDP is exploring all possibilities to fulfill observational gaps, to include RO. The current plan for NESDIS CDP is to leverage partners where we can and buy what we must to fulfill those gaps. - Q&A session ended before able to answer, answered after by panel member

Can we partner with Taiwan company for Cosmic-2 follow on? This does not pertain to the program; CDP cannot answer on behalf of other NOAA offices.

Will you share a list of attendees of this conference for teaming purposes? To promote teaming for this effort, NOAA anticipates using the SAM.gov Interested Vendor List (IVL), it's a feature within contract opportunities that allows businesses to identify themselves for teaming, subcontracting, partnering, etc. - Answered in Q&A chatbox

With the respect to NOAA mission to improve local weather, severe weather events, flooding, etc. the observations in the boundary layer are important. I wonder if NOAA would considering a purchase of thermodynamic profiles within the boundary layer from a ground based network of sensors?

The National Weather Service also has a commercial data program and they purchase data from our ground-based sensors. Curtis Marshall is the PM if you'd like to reach out or feel free to reach out to our team to put you in touch with him. - Answered during Q&A session

Would commercial ground observations of spacecraft orbits (including debris) that are used to generate thermospheric neutral densities fall under the SBEM. In other words, since the sensors are both in-space and on the ground, but the data is in-situ thermospheric density, can we still consider this Space-Based?

We are looking to buy space-based data that comes from satellites. Your platform has to be orbiting Earth in order to be considered as part of this award. Thermospheric Neutral Density is one of the functional categories we are interested in. - Answered during Q&A session

Would NOAA be open to piloting L4 intelligence data in the future? I wouldn't say we're going to shut the door on that but we would have a lot of analysis to do and piloting to do with our end users as well. To understand how we might utilize that data, it is a potential option that we could look at derived data sources. Our first priority again is to evaluate our level 1 data to make sure the quality is beneficial. - Answered during Q&A session

Would you release the list of prime contractors to allow for subcontracting opportunities?

Yes, once a Protect IDIQ is awarded they will get posted on our website. - Answered during Q&A session

As NOAA moves toward a data-as-a-service model, how are you evaluating the role of derived environmental intelligence—such as real-time nowcasting outputs with uncertainty quantification—versus raw sensor data, particularly for operational decision-making use cases?

This contract is focused on actual satellite data. So we are not as much interested currently in the analytic side and derived data, but we do have that option, that is, for the vendors to provide derived level 2 products. To be honest, we haven't really taken much of a look at the level 2 because we really need to validate our level 1 data first, so that's really our main focus. But we do still have other levels built into this IDIQ. What we want will be specified in our task orders. - Answered during Q&A session

Are HAPS (High altitude platform systems, high altitude pseudo satellites) going to be considered for "space based systems"?

Duplicate question / Answered during Q&A session

Will you send out the slide deck? The slide deck is available to the left of your screen. Let me know if you can't download. - Answered in Q&A chatbox

NESDIS CDP Industry Day 2026