MetOp will be monitored and controlled via the EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) Command and Data Acquisition station in Svalbard, Norway. Data will be downlinked to Svalbard once per orbit and then transferred to EUMETSAT in Darmstadt, Germany. From here, there is a data exchange with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the USA, and then after processing, the data is distributed to the users within 2 hours 15 minutes of the observations being made in space. MetOp forms the European contribution to the joint European-American polar satellite system. Through this international partnership, MetOp will provide the morning coverage while the NOAA satellites cover the afternoon orbits. Data is processed by both EUMETSAT and NOAA.