Evolving the NOAA Geostationary Satellite Ground System for Future Satellite Missions

The GEO Ground System (GS) has successfully supported the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES)-R series mission through the launch and operations of four GOES satellites. This system, originally designed starting in 2008, was first deployed for pre-launch testing in 2015 and then used operationally with the first GOES-R series launch in November 2016. The fourth and final GOES-R series satellite launched in June 2024. The current GEO GS is a very large system comprised of more than 260 racks of physical equipment, 3 million lines of developed software, and more than 400 Commercial/Government Off-the-Shelf (OTS) components.

Just like a car loses value the instant it is driven off the dealer’s lot, every component in a large system begins to age as soon as it arrives on the loading dock. For projects with a relatively short lifecycle this may not be problematic. However, the GOES-R series satellites are expected to be operational through 2038 which is 23 years after the first use of the GS. With a long mission lifecycle, none of the Information Technology (IT) components within the GS will last the full lifecycle. Constant vigilance is required to monitor, assess, and replace components in a cost-effective manner in order to meet the mission requirements while minimizing technical debt.

Over the course of the GOES-R series lifecycle, the GEO Ground System has gone through several significant technical updates, including efforts to modernize technology (virtualization and cloud migration) and incorporate common services (transition to N-Wave).

NOAA is now planning for the next generation of geostationary weather satellites known as the Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) mission. In order to maximize the value obtained from the investment into the GOES-R program, NOAA has made a decision to leverage the existing GEO GS to support the future constellation. Additionally, NOAA is exploring leveraging the GEO GS to also support future NESDIS Space Weather Office (SWO) satellite missions. This presents both a unique opportunity and a challenge to the GEO Ground Project who is responsible for sustaining the existing system and developing any new required capabilities. With the inclusion of these new missions into the GEO GS, the system lifecycle is now extended through 2055.

The GEO Ground Project is currently studying the best strategies to evolve the current capability that supports the current GOES-R system and include future Earth observation mission requirements, while also improving the GS by applying lessons learned over the last decade of system usage. One key element of this effort is a public Request for Information (RFI) seeking input from industry on methods of evolving the GEO GS and recommendations to enhance the overall GEO GS in several of the current challenge areas in order to deliver a multi-mission capability.

1. Overall sustainment cost
2. The increasing cost to managing aging components (obsolescence)
3. Long system patching deployment timelines potentially impacting IT Security
4. Long capability deployment timelines impacting operations
5. Concurrent GS development, mission readiness and ongoing operations

This presentation will provide an overview of the current GEO GS as well as background information on the existing challenge areas. We will then explore the definition and methods of evolving a system. Finally, we will present the GEO Ground roadmap to achieve a multi-mission Earth observation capability that supports NOAA’s Climate Ready Nation strategic objective. This includes a summary of the RFI responses and how the responses will inform the next generation GS.