July 7, 2016

The House Committee on Science, Space, & Technology held a hearing to discuss the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Department of Defense’s (DOD) current and future satellite missions.

Subcommittee Chairman Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) and full Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX)  expressed concern over NOAA and DOD’s rapidly aging satellite systems; NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite has already exceeded its original lifespan, while one of the DOD’s satellites, DMSP-19, failed earlier this year.

In 2010, the Obama Administration directed NOAA and the DOD to develop individual polar orbiting weather satellite programs. NOAA responded with the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), with JPSS-1 set to launch in March 2017, while the DOD’s Weather System Follow-On (WSF) program will launch its first satellites in 2022.

Because 80 percent of data used in numerical weather models comes from polar orbiting satellites, any failure of Suomi NPP before JPSS is launched could lead to data gaps and weaker weather forecasting. Chairman Bridenstine additionally expressed concern over reliance on international partners for weather data, given that the mid-morning polar orbit is operated by Europe.

Stephen Volz of NOAA assured the committee that the launch of JPSS-1 and JPSS-2 will restore a “robust” satellite system. The hurdle for the next satellite generation will be striking the balance between building enough satellites to exploit economies of scale, while minimizing storage costs and keeping technologies up to date, said David Powner of the Government Accountability Office.

Other concerns were raised over delays, cost overruns and mismanagement since the JPSS program’s initiation. According to Chairman Smith, “NOAA’s spending for satellite operations has ballooned to…40% of its total budget, over $2 billion”; potentially distracting NOAA from other areas of science, service, and stewardship.

Chairman Smith suggested that private sector partnerships could provide new technologies and data to the agency “on a much faster timeline at a lower cost than large and slow government systems.”

Voltz noted that NOAA is already working at “relatively breakneck speed” to implement a commercial data pilot program.

Sources: E&E Daily, eumetsat.int, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, SpaceNews, whitehouse.gov

Updated 8/1/16