The Future of NPOESS

Many in the scientific and defense community are concerned about the status of the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). NPOESS was created in 1994 as a joint project between the Department of Defense (DOD), NASA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to eliminate redundancy and lower costs among the government’s polar-orbiting systems. NPOESS is low earth orbiting environmental satellites that circle the Earth approximately every 100 minutes, providing global coverage, monitoring environmental conditions, and collecting data about the Earth’s weather, atmosphere, oceans, land, and near-space environment.

However, the project has suffered many delays and scale backs due to the different priorities and management structures of DOD, NASA, and NOAA. In response to those concerns, the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight held a hearing on 29 June 2010, entitled “Setting New Courses for Polar Weather Satellites and Earth Observations.”

The proposed restructuring discussed at the hearing creates two separate polar satellite programs. NOAA and NASA will run the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) which will run an afternoon orbit, while DOD’s Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS) will run an early morning orbit.

The Chairman of the Subcommittee, Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC), began by stating, “NPOESS suffered from major performance problems and schedule delays for the primary imaging instrument, and these spawned cost overruns. However, the real problem with the program was that it was crippled by a management structure that delayed decisions at critical moments.” Among the witnesses were Shere Abbott from the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Mary Glackin from NOAA, Christopher Scolese from NASA, Gil Klinger from DOD, and David Powner from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Members of the subcommittee were frustrated that NPOESS was over schedule and over budget, even though it was originally created to lower costs. Meanwhile, the witnesses representing DOD, NASA, NOAA, and OSTP seemed hopeful that the separation of NPOESS into JPSS and DWSS will solve many of the current problems while still meeting their observational requirements.

However, David Powner from GAO cited a recent GAO report that offered several potential problems with the proposed restructuring. These problems include the loss of key staff and capabilities, delays in negotiating contract changes and establishing new programs, and insufficient oversight of new program management. Powner noted, “The major issues that led to NPOESS’s failure are still relevant to the new programs.” Witnesses were also concerned about the potential for a “data gap” if the satellites are launched behind schedule. Restructuring the program may take longer than expected and so scheduling slips remain a threat. All witnesses and Members agreed this must be avoided.

On 15 July, at a meeting of the Friends of NOAA, of which AGU is a member, NOAA’s Director of External Affairs, Andrew Winer, said NOAA and NASA are working together on a “Plan B” if a data gap is unavoidable. However, Winer did not say what the Plan B might look like. He said more information would be available on the subject in four to six weeks.