27-0002 NOAAPort Request for Information Questions

1. BACKGROUND

The National Weather Service (NWS) Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) Satellite Broadcast Network (SBN) system provides a one-way broadcast of NOAA environmental data and information in near-real time to NOAA and external users. This AWIPS SBN (managed by the AWIPS Network Control Facility (NCF) service is operated by a commercial provider of satellite communications utilizing a C-band frequency. Weather data (satellite imagery, radar data, model data, sensor data, etc.) is collected and processed across the Weather Enterprise and then fed to the NCF, which disseminates the products via the AWIPS SBN / NOAAPort data broadcast via the Galaxy 31 Satellite. Currently, all NWS products are evolving with greater resolution, additional details, and conversions from text base to a digital format, increasing bandwidth requirements over the AWIPS SBN. For nearly three decades, the NOAAPort SBN has served as a central broadcast mechanism delivering real-time weather, satellite, radar, numerical weather prediction model output, and emergency warnings across C-band satellite transponders to field offices, commercial weather entities, emergency managers, and interagency partners. The NOAAPort SBN is scheduled for deactivation as early as August 31, 2027.
The two primary drivers that necessitate the decommissioning and replacement of the NOAAPort SBN are:
1. Cloud Enterprise Migration: The NWS is actively transitioning its core operational forecasting applications to cloud-native platforms, eliminating internal NWS field reliance on dedicated SBN satellite broadcasts.
2. C-Band Spectrum Reallocation: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to auction and repurpose upper C-band satellite spectrum, impacting the long-term availability and viability of the legacy C-band broadcast infrastructure. While internal NWS users will access data via tools within the NWS Enterprise Cloud (NEC) environment, external stakeholders—including commercial vendors, emergency managers, and academic institutions—will not have direct access to these internal-NWS tools and will therefore require alternative pathways that are robust, low-latency, and highly-available.

2. PURPOSE AND OPERATIONAL OBJECTIVES

The NWS seeks industry feedback on technical architectures, delivery paradigms, commercial services, and migration strategies capable of satisfying the following core objectives: ● High-Volume Data Delivery: Sustained distribution of large diverse data streams, including