In pursuit of innovation and new ideas to develop the next generation of remote sensing and data systems, NOAA’s Satellite and Information Services (NESDIS) has engaged a series of industry and agency partners to explore emerging concepts for instrument technology, ground systems and new mission elements.
The NESDIS Joint Venture Partnerships announced nine awards totaling $13.8 million in September 2022. These awards fund pilots and demonstration projects that explore the feasibility of emerging technology in three mission-specific areas:
- Measuring atmospheric wind profiles (3D winds) from space to meet NOAA’s performance standards;
- Digital twin data ground processing and dissemination systems to streamline environmental observation from a variety of sensors in various orbits; and
- A prototype hyperspectral microwave sensor (HyMS), including deployment in a sub-orbital flight or other platforms to demonstrate the ability to collect and assess data and the value of that data on numerical weather prediction.
While NESDIS prioritizes industry engagement, the concept studies themselves do not commit the agency to adopting the emerging technology in mission operations.
Joint Venture is a NOAA/NESDIS program, designed to work with the private sector, academia, and other federal agencies to explore the feasibility and capability of emerging technologies, spacecraft, and other mission-specific tools to meet NOAA’s mission requirements.
For this round of Joint Venture studies and pilots, partners included NASA, BAE Systems, Inc., Ball Aerospace, Honeywell Aerospace, Lockheed Martin Space, Orion Space Solutions, Science and Technology Corp., and Spire. Read the news release here. Future Broad Agency Announcements of ensuing Joint Venture efforts will be announced later in 2023