American Meteorological Society 2018

Air Force to bolster weather capabilities with small satellites and sensors
The U.S. Air Force is focused on information technology, cybersecurity and small satellites to enhance weather capabilities in the near term rather than a new generation of large, sophisticated spacecraft to replace the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program.

NOAA’s future constellation: large and small satellites in variety of orbits
NOAA's future constellation could include a mix of large government-owned and government-operated satellites, imaging instruments hosted on commercial satellites, small satellites in low Earth orbit and data purchased from commercial firms.

Aerospace Corp. warns of terrestrial interference with critical satellite services
Growing demand by terrestrial wireless firms threatens the federal government’s exclusive use of spectrum traditionally reserved for NOAA satellite broadcasts to emergency managers, meteorologists and researchers.

NOAA could slash future communications costs if commercial services pan out
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency may be able to slash the cost of transmitting data from its next generation of weather satellites by turning to commercial communications services.

Spire Global is expanding cubesat constellation to offer persistent global view
Spire Global, the San Francisco-based company that operates 48 GPS radio occultation cubesats, says it could provide a persistent view of about 97 percent of Earth with a constellation of 150 satellites.

Air Force looks to companies, international partners in quest to improve space weather forecasting
The U.S. Air Force is seeking continuous improvement of its ability to understand and forecast space weather that impacts Defense Department satellites, said Ralph Stoffler, Air Force director of weather.

NOAA prepares GOES-S for launch as Lockheed Martin builds successors
As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration prepares for the March 1 launch of its next Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) S on an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, prime contractor Lockheed Martin is working in Denver on its successors GOES-T and GOES-U.

NASA prepares to buy Earth science data from small satellite constellations
NASA plans to begin awarding sole source contracts in March to companies flying small satellite constellations as part of an Earth science data pilot program.

NOAA updates its weather constellation and retires an old workhorse
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationannounced plans Jan. 8 to retire its decade-old Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) 13 to make way for its next generation: GOES 16 launched in 2016 and GOES-S scheduled to launch in March.

NOAA sees great promise and challenges in using data from small satellite constellations
As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration looks ahead, the agency sees great promise in the observation capabilities of small satellite constellations but also significant challenges in terms of buying, validating and using the various types of data they provide.

AMS meeting investigates roles for commercial and small satellites in weather forecasting
AUSTIN, Texas — Atmospheric and space scientists gathering at the 98th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society this week will be sharing information on a wide range of topics, including future government and commercial weather sate…