Main Engine Cut OffCOTS Weather Formally Authorized
I meant to link to this last week, but better late than never. Interesting article by Jeff Foust of SpaceNews:
Among the bill’s provisions is language formally authorizing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to purchase weather data from commercial satellite systems. The bill authorizes NOAA to spend $6 million a year in fiscal years 2017 through 2020 for a pilot program of data purchases to evaluate the effectiveness of commercial data to support weather forecasting.
NOAA has already started such a pilot program using $3 million appropriated to the agency in fiscal year 2016. In September 2016, NOAA awarded contracts to GeoOptics and Spire, with a combined value of a little more than $1 million, for GPS radio occultation data.
It’s a small start, sure, but a really good sign for the “COTS Everything” mindset that I would like to see prevail in the coming years.