The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO) is seeking information about existing or planned commercial sensors and tracking services for objects orbiting Earth, with an eye for action from 2022 through 2030.
The request for information (RFI), released on behalf of the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS), Office of Space Commerce (OSC), details its purpose in helping OSC explore the “viability of commercial tracking data of active satellites and debris in preparation of future OSC Space Situational Awareness (SSA) products” and its development of an Open Architecture Data Repository (OADR).
“OSC’s primary interest is in commercial data sources to fill coverage gaps in existing government tracking assets,” the RFI states. “The ability to track debris and other objects that are not currently well-tracked and the capability to track objects in the southern hemisphere are of particular interest.”
The office is also interested in the “capability to task observation assets to refine orbit estimates of high-priority objects on an ad-hoc basis and the capability to track calibration satellites.”
“Responses to this RFI will be used to inform plans for OADR development and other acquisition activities related to commercial space situational awareness by OSC and other government agencies,” the RFI states.
Responses to the RFI are due March 21, 2022.
