The Observatory Protocol is open, and the Nexus Consortium stewards it. The specification stays public, every change goes through a public process, and the name means the conformance tests were passed. Anyone can implement it. No single company sets its course.
The observing systems that endure keep their rules with everyone who uses them. A protocol for the world’s instruments has to outlast any company, product cycle or government term.
Instruments run for decades. The rules they speak must be kept by a body whose purpose is the protocol, not the products built on it.
Manufacturers, agencies, universities and communities implement the same text, pass the same tests and carry the same name on the same terms.
Every change is proposed, reviewed and decided in public, with its reasons and its compatibility impact recorded.
Stewardship is deliberately narrow. It covers the protocol, not anyone’s instruments, data, products or prices.
The normative text: functions, states, objects, actors and flows.
Public, versionedThe tests an implementation must pass to say it speaks the protocol.
Open test suiteHow a proposal becomes part of the protocol, and who decides.
Draft to ImplementedRelease numbers, compatibility rules and the support window for old versions.
Compatibility firstWhen a product may say it implements the protocol, and how that is shown.
Conformance before claimsA company can contribute to the protocol and build on it. It cannot steward it.
Keeps the specification, the conformance suite, the change process, versioning and naming.
Supports the protocol, contributes to it, gives builders access and support, and designs, builds and runs systems on it. An Ellipi Group company.
Manufacturers, agencies, researchers and communities may implement the protocol and test against it.
Propose changes in public. Your contribution comes in under an inbound licence; your rights stay yours.
A change lands only when review accepts it and its conformance tests pass against an implementation. Rejected and withdrawn proposals stay on record, with reasons.
| State | Meaning | Leaves when |
|---|---|---|
| Draft | Written in the open with motivation, text, compatibility notes and a test plan. | The author asks for review. |
| Review | Public review by implementers and the steward. Comments and answers are kept. | Accepted, returned for changes, or rejected. |
| Accepted | Agreed in principle; scheduled for a release. | Conformance tests pass against an implementation. |
| Implemented | Part of a released version of the protocol. | Superseded by a later proposal. |
| Withdrawn or rejected | Closed, kept on record with its reasons. | — |
Decision rules, quorum and appeal are set by the charter. [PLACEHOLDER] charter
The steward exists for the protocol; companies exist to build on it. These principles hold the line between them. They are drafts until legal review is complete.
Each publishes here once approved. Until then it shows as a placeholder.
Read the specification, propose a change, or implement it in your instruments.
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