NOAA established a satellite Climate Data Record Program (CDRP) at its National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) to provide a systematic reprocessing capability which will generate sustained and authoritative climate information from satellite data. CDRP implements a unique approach in archiving not only the data products themselves, but also the software, ancillary data, and enough documentation to allow any user with the processing power, to reproduce the data. Best practices, such as common maturity assessments, guidelines, and standards, are employed to facilitate both the transition of research algorithms to operational software, and the long-term maintenance of the software. CDRP guidelines align to production guidelines from Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) and WMO's Sustained, Coordinated Processing of Environmental Satellite Data for Climate Monitoring (SCOPE-CM) activity. Elements of the CDR Adaptive Processing System (CAPS) are described, along with the system's implementation approach, performance expectations, and plans for growth to accommodate increased CDR processing. A cost model has been implemented to capture the cost of CDR generation and maintenance, considering variables such as CDR complexity, source, and maturity at the beginning of the process.