About N-Wave 

N-Wave is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) network service provider and has been in operation since 2009. N-Wave’s foundation relies on an extensive array of partnerships and relationships among NOAA, the Department of Commerce, other federal agencies and the academic and state research network communities. N-Wave’s national network infrastructure extends across the contiguous U.S. to Alaska and Hawaii — reaching remote field sites, major campuses, data centers and supercomputing facilities. 

Combined with its scalable cloud solutions, robust catalog of enterprise managed services and advanced network operations, N-Wave supports all stakeholder missions with integrity, transparency and flexibility, and employs a unique partnership approach to provide the best customer experience.

N-Wave: Enabling National Security, Military Readiness, and Public Safety Across Critical Infrastructure Sectors

N-Wave plays a critical role in supporting NOAA’s mission while providing secure, high-performance network infrastructure to federal agencies responsible for national security, military operations and public safety. By ensuring mission continuity, operational resilience, and real-time access to vital environmental and weather intelligence, N-Wave strengthens the 16 critical infrastructure sectors designated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Supporting the Department of Defense and Battlespace Awareness

N-Wave provides secure, resilient network connectivity to the Department of Defense (DoD), including the Navy, Air Force, and Space Force, enhancing their ability to respond to evolving threats. These efforts directly support the Defense Industrial Base Sector, ensuring mission-critical military operations remain protected from cyber threats and operational disruptions.

  • A direct connection between the Air Force and AWS secure gov cloud is under development, ensuring uninterrupted communication and operational continuity in the event of a security incident or cyber threat.

  • N-Wave’s infrastructure supports weather intelligence critical to military operations, enhancing battlespace situational awareness and protecting U.S. forces from environmental hazards.

Enhancing National Security and Public Safety Capabilities

N-Wave enables secure network services that safeguard U.S. interests across multiple critical infrastructure sectors, including Government Facilities, Emergency Services, and Communications.

  • N-Wave provides secure connectivity to the Office of Space Commerce, ensuring the protection of U.S. assets in the commercial space domain, a vital component of national defense and technological superiority.

  • Through partnerships with key Department of Commerce (DOC) agencies—including Commerce HQ, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), International Trade Administration (ITA), National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) - N-Wave protects American economic and technological leadership from adversarial threats. These efforts directly support the critical manufacturing, financial services, and information technology sectors that drive U.S. global competitiveness.

  • As a High-Value Asset (HVA) under FISMA, N-Wave’s infrastructure is designated by DHS/CISA as a critical cybersecurity system, ensuring the highest levels of security for federal operations and bolstering the cybersecurity and information technology sectors.

  • N-Wave protects scientific research integrity and sensitive data for NOAA and all its customers, including DoD agencies engaged in classified research and national security initiatives.

Securing Critical Infrastructure and Communications

N-Wave plays a pivotal role in protecting American innovation, public safety and essential services by securing communications across the energy, transportation, water, and emergency services sectors.

  • Owning and managing fiber-optic network backbone cables in geopolitically sensitive regions, including Alaska, the national capital region, and supercomputing sites, ensures operational resilience for federal agencies.

  • N-Wave delivers secure connectivity to remote federal sites, ensuring critical communications, life-saving climate and weather alerts, and resilient operations where commercial telecom providers lack financial incentives to support service delivery.

  • N-Wave provides multi-agency Trusted Internet Connection Access Points (TICAP), which are essential for mission security and required for safeguarding federal networks.

Advancing IT Security and Resilience for National Mission Essential Functions

As a best-in-class government network, N-Wave sets the benchmark for IT innovation and cybersecurity resilience, supporting multiple critical infrastructure sectors with advanced security protocols.

  • N-Wave implements the White House’s Routing Security Initiative, a framework adopted by global internet users and federal agencies to enhance network integrity and cyber resilience.

  • N-Wave’s X-Wave transport backbone safeguards government data from exposure to the open internet, ensuring that sensitive national security and public safety communications remain secure from malicious actors.

  • NOAA’s cybersecurity mission telemetry, which is critical for national defense, environmental security, and disaster response, is fully dependent on N-Wave’s secure connectivity and infrastructure

By ensuring uncompromised network security, resilient communications, and mission-critical data protection, N-Wave reinforces national security, military readiness, and public safety operations—safeguarding American interests across all 16 critical infrastructure sectors at home and abroad.

This map shows N-Wave’s traffic across its network in the U.S. and to Alaska and Hawaii, including locations for the network core, Trusted Internet Connection Access Point (TICAP) sites, aggregation sites, participant sites and Virtual Private Networking (VPN) backhaul sites.
This map shows N-Wave’s traffic across its network in the U.S. and to Alaska and Hawaii, including locations for the network core, Trusted Internet Connection Access Point (TICAP) sites, aggregation sites, participant sites and Virtual Private Network (VPN) backhaul sites.

What makes N-Wave unique?

  • NOAA operated and managed national infrastructure, ensuring capacity, security and data delivery assurance
  • Solid partnerships within the Science, Research and Education community
  • Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) services (X-Wave)
  • Scalable cloud solutions
  • Robust catalog of enterprise managed services
  • Advanced network operations
  • High value asset, authorized high FISMA system, full network service  provider 

N-Wave works closely with its community of stakeholders and partners to ensure the network meets their needs today and in the future.

From the campus to the cloud, N-Wave provides solutions text overlaid on image of the horizon

 

N-Wave offers a wide selection of services to its stakeholder partners. 

Enterprise Transport Services

  • National Fiber Optic Backbone
  • Multi-Protocol Label Switching
  • Optical Transport
  • TICAP
  • Cloud Transport

Enterprise Managed Services

  • Enterprise Wireless
  • Enterprise Remote Access VPN (ERAV)
  • Managed Local Area Networks (LAN)
  • Cable Plant Management
  • Managed Firewall 

Value-Add Advantage

  • Engineering Assessments
  • Architecture, Design and Consulting
  • Technology Exchanges and Stakeholder Engagement
  • Monitoring, measurement and visualization
  • Advanced Network Operations 
  • High value asset, authorized high FISMA system, full network service provider

From the brightest stars to the deepest oceans, N-Wave’s operations support the important missions of its federal agency partners to provide vital public services, national and economic security, and to protect and serve the American people.