A POES orbit is completed in about 104 minutes. Polar satellite readout stations require about 30 minutes to receive and retransmit the raw orbit data for wider distribution. It then takes about 20 to 30 minutes for the Suitland, Maryland Computer Facility to receive, process, and distribute a complete orbital dataset. Therefore data from one complete orbit can be made available to the user within about 1 hour from the time the orbit ends. Data from the beginning of the orbit will be about 160 minutes old.

Any processing delays beyond 2 hours are usually due to delays in the receipt of the data because of what are called 'blind orbits,' where the satellite is not over a readout station for two orbits. This occurs daily between 07 and 10 UTC for NOAA satellite data processed by
ATOVS . Alaska, Hawaii, and regions near the dateline are affected most directly by 'blind orbits.' The other large delays (3 hours and more) are likely the result of an orbit being stored on the satellite because the readout station was scheduled to read out orbital data from another passing satellite.