NOAA Selects Orbit Logic for Enterprise Scheduling

August 17th, 2020

Under a recent contract award, Orbit Logic will provide the enterprise scheduling solution for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ground stations and satellites. NOAA has named the new system to be provided by Orbit Logic the Enterprise Automated Scheduling Implementation (EASI) planning system. The EASI system aims to be just that – easy. The Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) sought a solution to integrate the multiple facets of scheduling for NOAA operations. The EASI system will perform ground station antenna and satellite modeling and associated antenna scheduling for any satellite in any orbit, and is extensible to support additional future missions and scheduling requirements. The system will support all current NOAA and commercial ground station antennas and associated equipment supporting NOAA operations; NOAA’s LEO, GEO and deep space satellites; and external missions that utilize NOAA ground stations.

Scott Leonard, OSPO Mission Operations Division Chief stated, ”We are excited to work with Orbit Logic on evolving our satellite scheduling system which will allow NOAA to leverage our own capabilities and partnerships to deploy new environmental observational capabilities to strengthen weather forecasting.”

STK Scheduler Planning Ground Contacts for NOAA Satellites

At the core of Orbit Logic’s EASI solution design is their STK Scheduler software; an operationally proven COTS product that has made Orbit Logic a leading provider of planning and scheduling software for the space industry. The EASI solution will evolve from the existing parallel stove-piped planning systems for each satellite mission by integrating all missions and ground antennas into a single enterprise planning model. Orbit Logic will work with NOAA planners and engineers during every stage of the process to transfer requirements into STK Scheduler and other STK module scenarios and model configurations.

NOAA Satellite Scheduling Challenge

Orbit Logic will train NOAA planners on the incrementally deployed solution. The EASI solution will leverage Orbit Logic’s capabilities with not only the STK Scheduler planning engine, but its extensions to web and mobile interfaces. Orbit Logic will create NOAA-specific pages and workflows within the STK Scheduler Online web application, and provide pass alerts and status to NOAA operators and mission customers through a customized version of its SpyMeSat mobile app and supporting server architecture.