NOAA's commercial space policy is expected to allow the organization to augment the capabilities of its own satellites, such as the Suomi NPP satellite that collected this image of Sicily's Mount Etna erupting on Dec. 9, 2015. (Credit: NOAA/NASA)
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released its commercial space policy, which sets a broad framework for agency use of commercial space-based approaches.
The policy establishes critical components for engaging with the commercial sector: designating the Office of Space Commerce as a single point of entry for commercial providers to streamline the process for easier engagement; establishing an open and transparent marketplace; defining guiding principles, implementation considerations and strategic planning for potential commercial data buys; establishing demonstration projects to test and evaluate new potential data sources; and providing an avenue to operational commercial data buys.
View the full policy document here.
