NOAA Invests $67M in Data to Improve Weather Forecasts
NOAA Invests $67M in Data to Improve Weather Forecasts
US · Published Sep 21, 2026
NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) has announced three contract awards totaling $67 million to enhance weather and space weather forecasting. The contracts, part of the Commercial Data Program (CDP), will fund the purchase of 10,000 daily Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) data profiles and 500 Total Electron Content (TEC) ionospheric measurements per day. These data will improve numerical weather prediction models and space weather applications. The contracts, awarded to Spire Global, PlanetiQ, and Ethereal Space, will span two years, with data delivery beginning in December
(Source: nesdis.noaa.gov, Source time: not specified)

Impact & Risks

The new data acquisitions are expected to significantly enhance NOAA’s ability to forecast weather and monitor space weather. GNSS-RO profiles will provide critical atmospheric data, including temperature, pressure, and moisture, while TEC measurements will help detect ionospheric disturbances that could signal space weather events like solar flares. These improvements will benefit not only NOAA’s operations but also other U.S. and international agencies that rely on accurate weather and space weather data. (Source: nesdis.noaa.gov, Source time: not specified)

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