House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Ranking Member Frank Lucas released a statement today praising the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for significantly reducing expenses in a key satellite observation program. The data, released on June 18, showed a decrease of $735 million for the program’s life-cycle costs.
“I want to applaud NOAA, NESDIS, and the JPSS Program Office for their tremendous work to deliver critical long-term weather and climate observations. I also want to thank Dr. Neil Jacobs for his leadership during this time. Not only are Dr. Jacobs and NOAA producing high quality data and forecasts, they are doing it in a cost-effective manner and saving taxpayers $735 million dollars. With an above-average Atlantic hurricane season projected this year, I am thankful NOAA has world-class satellites providing data for their models.”
Background:
NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) announced that the Polar Follow-On (PFO) and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R Series (GOES) programs updated their life cycle costs for Fiscal Year 2016 through Fiscal Year 2038.
The PFO program’s new life cycle cost is $6,837 million, a decrease of $735 million, or 9.7%, from the previous projections in December of 2016. This is a result of efficient program management, lower procurement costs, and improved instrument development and testing.
Following the successful launch and operation of JPSS-1 in November 2017, NOAA continues to meet strategic deadlines and remains on track in the acquisition and development of the three remaining satellites in this series.
Additionally, with GOES-16 and GOES-17 in orbit and meeting mission criteria, this year marks the first time their data is being used in NOAA’s Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting model.
