Images: Ground System

NOAA developed a state-of-the-art ground system to receive data from GOES-R Series spacecraft and generate real-time data products. This is accomplished via a core set of functional elements (mission management, product generation, product distribution and enterprise management/infrastructure), an antenna system and a product access element.

The ground system operates from two primary locations: the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF) in Suitland, Maryland, and the Wallops Command Data Acquisition Center (WCDAS) at Wallops, Virginia. A third operations facility in Fairmont, West Virginia, serves as the Consolidated Backup (CBU) facility in case of a systems or communications failure at either or both NSOF and WCDAS.