--- title: "Participants: Observatory Protocol" description: "The roles Observatory Protocol 0.1 defines, from the instrument and its node agent to the site operator, the grid and external authorities." url: https://observatory.global/protocol/actors/ publisher: Nexus Observatory Inc. updated: 2026-10-27 --- [Observatory Protocol](https://observatory.global/protocol/) / [Specification](https://observatory.global/protocol/) / **Participants** # The roles the protocol defines. 9 roles, from the instrument and its node agent to the site operator, the grid and the external authorities whose decisions the protocol records but never assumes. [Read the specification](https://observatory.global/protocol/) [Contribute](https://observatory.global/open/) **Functions**: 12 **State machines**: 11 **Objects**: 21 **Standards**: 48 ## The practice this part continues. **Federations Networks of networks**: The International Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks unites the groups responsible for installing and maintaining seismographs in their own regions; the International GNSS Service has provided open access to high-quality GNSS data products since 1994, giving access to the global reference frame, the ITRF. Each shows that a federation keeps local ownership and still yields one coherent record. The protocol’s rule of one owner per fact, and its federation function, follow that model. \[1\]\[2\]\[3\] **2000 Common standards, many builders**: Since Argo started in 2000, its profiling floats have been built by companies and research institutions alike, all held to common standards set by an international steering team. Replaceable providers behind one shared contract is the arrangement the protocol makes normative. \[4\] **2023 Attested identity**: The IETF RATS architecture (RFC 9334) describes how one party appraises evidence about the state of another. The protocol’s Join and Admit functions apply that model to instruments: a participant begins untrusted and is admitted on evidence, not on assertion. \[5\] ## 9 roles. Open a role to see the functions in which it takes part. 9 of 9 ## References Sources for the historical and standards statements on this page. 1. International Federation of Digital Seismograph Networks. "About the FDSN." [www.fdsn.org/about/](https://www.fdsn.org/about/) 2. International GNSS Service. "About the IGS." [igs.org/about/](https://igs.org/about/) 3. IGN, ITRF Product Center. "International Terrestrial Reference Frame." [itrf.ign.fr/en/homepage](https://itrf.ign.fr/en/homepage) 4. Argo Program. "About Argo." [argo.ucsd.edu/about/](https://argo.ucsd.edu/about/) 5. Birkholz, H., et al. (2023). RFC 9334, "Remote ATtestation procedureS (RATS) Architecture." IETF. [www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9334](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9334) 6. Bradner, S. (1997). RFC 2119, "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels." IETF. [www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119) 7. Leiba, B. (2017). RFC 8174, "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC 2119 Key Words." IETF. [www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174](https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc8174) ## Read it, test it, propose a change. The Observatory Protocol is an open specification stewarded by the Nexus Consortium. Any party may implement it, and every change is proposed and decided in public. [Read the specification](https://observatory.global/protocol/) [Contribute](https://observatory.global/open/) [Nexus Observatory](https://observatory.global/)**Observatory Protocol** . 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