Topic: Continuity of Operations (COOP) Exercise for JPSS, GOES-R, EWS-G, and ESPC

Date/Time Issued: April 30, 2026 1808 UTC

Product(s) or Data Impacted: JPSS, GOES-R, EWS-G, ESPC, and all products distributed from PDA. Most products will be available at both NSOF and CBU and some will be available only at NSOF. A list of available products and locations can be viewed at https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/temp/COOP2026_Product_LISTS_and_Location.txt .


Date/Time of Initial Impact: May 4, 2026 1230 UTC
Date/Time of Expected End: May 6, 2026 1630 UTC

Length of Event: 52 hours

Details/Specifics:
The Office of Satellite and Product Operations (OSPO) plans to exercise its annual Continuity of Operations (COOP) to demonstrate contingency measures required at the backup facilities to maintain nominal distribution of primary mission essential functions that include command and control and product processing and distribution. A declaration of Critical Weather Day (CWD) before this event will not change, postpone or cancel the exercise for the JPSS, GOES-R or EWS-G constellations. The follow satellite constellations and data distribution systems will participate in this year's COOP exercise:

JPSS: The annual JPSS operational COOP exercise will take place at the Consolidated Backup facility in Fairmont, WV on Monday May 4th at 1000 UTC. The planned transition will transfer command and control of all three JPSS spacecraft to the CBU until Thursday, May 7th at 1000 UTC, where it will be transferred back to the NSOF in Suitland, MD. IDPS product monitoring will solely be performed at NSOF. There are no expected impacts to JPSS IDPS products or its distributions during this exercise.

GOES-R: The annual GOES-R operational COOP exercise will take place at the Consolidated Backup facility in Fairmont, WV on Monday May 4th at 1000 UTC. The planned transition will transfer command and control of all four GOES-R spacecraft to the CBU until Thursday, May 7th at 1000 UTC, where it will be transferred back to the NSOF in Suitland, MD. Product monitoring will also parallel the command and control transition times and will be performed at CBU. There are no expected impacts to GOES-R products or its distribution during this exercise.

EWS-G: The annual EWS-G operational COOP exercise will take place at the Wallops Island Command and Data Acquisition (WCDAS) site located in Chincoteague, VA on Monday May 4th at 1000Z. The planned transition will transfer command and control of all EWS-G spacecraft to the WCDAS facility until Thursday, May 7th at 1000 UTC, where it will be transferred back to the NSOF in Suitland, MD. There are no expected impacts to EWS-G operations during the COOP event.

ESPC/PDA:

The PDA Continuity of Operations (COOP) exercise will begin on Monday, May 4, 2026 at 1230 UTC. During this activity, PDA operations at NSOF will failover to the Consolidated Backup (CBU) site in Fairmont, WV. The scheduled failback to NSOF—marking the conclusion of the COOP exercise—will occur on Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 1630 UTC. Both the failover and failback transitions are expected to take less than one hour.

DATA AVAILABILITY DURING THE COOP EXERCISE

1. Data Available from Both NSOF and CBU

All products that have transitioned to NCCF—including S‑NPP, NOAA‑20, NOAA‑21, GCOM‑W1, GOES L2 DMW BUFR, GOES L3 such as GOES ASOS, GOES FLS, and GOES ASR/CSR, Metop‑B/C products, non‑NOAA satellites such as OceanSAT‑3, etc., and most legacy products—will be accessible from both sites.

For PUSH Users:  

For PULL Users:  

May retrieve data from either site during the COOP period.

2. Data Available Only from NSOF

GOES L1b, other GOES L2, and some legacy products will remain available exclusively from NSOF throughout the exercise.

3. The complete list of available products and locations can be viewed at:

https://satepsanone.nesdis.noaa.gov/pub/temp/COOP2026_Product_LISTS_and_Location.txt

POST‑COOP OPERATIONS

Upon completion of the COOP exercise and the failback on May 6, PDA operations will return to the nominal configuration at NSOF.

PDA staff will be available to help users with troubleshooting issues during the failover and failback. Email PDA_DHS@noaa.gov and a PDA Support team member will provide the Google Meet details or phone number.


A declaration of Critical Weather Day (CWD) before this event may change, postpone or cancel the date of the PDA COOP. JPSS data will be available from either site as it is planned to be delivered via NCCF to both NSOF OPS and the CBU Backup sites.


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