![Northrop Grumman Awarded $152 Million for Canceled NPOESS Program]()
The modification moves NPOESS one step closer to termination.
![Aerospace Corp. Delivers Tough NPOESS Postmortem]()
The U.S. government’s effort to merge its civil and military weather satellite programs failed due to the divergent missions of the agencies involved, a dysfunctional management structure, poor contractor oversight, inexperience among government program managers and unrealistic cost and schedule estimates, among other reasons, according to a report by the Aerospace Corp., which provides engineering and analytical services supporting U.S. Air Force space programs.
![NASA To Tap Ball Aerospace for NPOESS Preparatory Project Clone]()
WASHINGTON — NASA intends to tap Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. to build a second platform for a U.S. civilian weather satellite system being managed by NASA following the White House’s Feb. 1 decision to dismantle a program that was designed to serve both civil and military users.
The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has recommended removing most of the money for a military weather satellite program and increasing funding for the Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office, according to a May 28 committee press release.
![House Defense Panel Slashes Request for NPOESS]()
WASHINGTON — A U.S. congressional panel on May 12 recommended slashing $300 million from the Air Force’s $352 million budget request for weather satellites next year while steering significant increases toward other military space efforts, including Operationally Responsive Space.
An infrared sounding instrument built by ITT Corp. that has been holding up the launch of a U.S. polar orbiting weather satellite successfully completed thermal vacuum testing, Northrop Grumman announced April 28.
The United States must rethink the current plans to cancel or significantly restructure the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program.
![Northrop Positioned To Build Military’s NPOESS Substitute]()
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Defense Department is developing requirements for its next-generation weather satellite system and might tap Northrop Grumman to build it, possibly using the contract vehicle already in place for a now-defunct effort to field a joint civil-military constellation, according to a senior Pentagon official.
![NOAA Budget Request Includes Funds To End NPOESS Contract]()
WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman faces possible termination of its multibillion-dollar contract to build a next-generation weather satellite system for the U.S. government, and many of the company’s key responsibilities on the newly revamped program are being handed over to NASA, according to a senior government official.
![Northrop Grumman To Lose NPOESS Contract]()
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government intends to terminate Northrop Grumman’s contract to manage a troubled weather satellite program and transition responsibility for all elements of the program to NASA, an administration official told Congress March 17.
![Continued Funding Urged for NPOESS]()
SAN FRANCISCO — U.S. Air Force officials told a Senate panel that companies should continue to receive funding to develop sensors and design the spacecraft for the canceled National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) until the Defense Department completes a thorough review of requirements for its future weather satellites.
![White House Dissolves NPOESS Partnership in Blow to Northrop]()
WASHINGTON — The White House announced Feb. 1 it will end a troubled civil-military weather satellite program and instead pursue two separate lines of polar-orbiting satellites to serve military and civilian users.
![With Most Risk Eliminated, NPOESS On Track, Northrop Says]()
With development work on most of its weather and climate sensors complete, the majority of the risk associated with the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) has been eliminated, prime contractor Northrop Grumman says.
![Top Official of Troubled NPOESS Program To Resign]()
As the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and U.S. Air Force await direction from the White House on possible changes to a troubled civil-military weather satellite effort, the program’s top official announced he will resign Jan. 8.
![NPOESS Precursor’s Launch Delayed Until 2011]()
The precursor to the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) will not be launched until late 2011, nearly a year later than planned, due to delays in production of one of the spacecraft’s scientific instruments, the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS), according to government officials attending the American Geophysical Union Conference here.
![Legislation Ends NPOESS Cost-Sharing Arrangement]()
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Congress is on the verge of sending the White House an omnibus spending bill that provides no additional funding for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) and eliminates a cost-sharing agreement between the Air Force and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the troubled weather satellite program.
![Past Due NPOESS Sensor Finally Completes Testing]()
The sensor blamed for delaying the U.S. civil-military National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) completed testing in late October and is packed up waiting to be shipped to the spacecraft integrator, according to a Nov. 30 Northrop Grumman press release.
![NPOESS Management Decisions Coming Soon]()
A White House panel assembled to make recommendations for getting a troubled U.S. weather satellite program back on track has reported its findings to the president’s top science adviser and expects major decisions to be made in the next few weeks.
Conferees from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives agreed Oct. 8 on a 2010 defense authorization bill that fences off funding for the troubled National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) until a new funding and management plan is completed.
![White House To Rule on NPOESS Management Changes in September]()
WASHINGTON — The White House by Sept. 26 will decide on proposed changes to a troubled weather satellite program that include assigning management responsibility for the tri-agency effort to either NASA or the U.S. Air Force, according to government sources.
