Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellites: With Costs Increasing and Data Continuity at Risk, Improvements Needed in Tri-agency Decision Making

DOD agreed with our recommendation and implemented it. The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics attended and participated in the NPOESS Executive Committee meetings, beginning with their July 2009 meeting. More recently, he participated on the White House task team that decided to disband the NPOESS program and in the on-going transition from NPOESS to two separate programs.

In February 2010, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced its decision to disband the tri-agency NPOESS program. Further, it announced that DOD and NOAA would undertake separate acquisitions to meet their needs in the morning and afternoon orbits, respectively. We consider the decision to be responsive to the many recommendations we made to address a wide array of weaknesses in the executive management structure.

In February 2010, the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy made a decision to disband NPOESS--a tri-agency program managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Defense (DOD), and NASA. Instead, NOAA and DOD will develop separate satellite programs, known as the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) and the Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS) respectively. JPSS is a partnership between NOAA and NASA; NOAA has the final decision authority and is responsible for the overall JPSS program, and NASA serves as an acquisition agent. Thus, the two agencies' JPSS program is now responsible for developing the cost and schedule baseline for the polar satellite program. Our report published in June 2012 (GAO-12-604) found that the agencies have established a timeframe for putting an overall program baseline in place, which is by the end of November 2012.

In October 2012, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) established a mitigation plan to address the impact of potential gaps in polar afternoon satellite data. This plan identifies alternatives for mitigating the risk of a 14- to 18-month gap in the afternoon orbit beginning in March 2016, between the current polar satellite and the JPSS-1 satellite. Key alternatives include utilizing different satellites as data sources and improving data assimilation in models. NOAA plans to update its plan during 2013 to include additional mitigation alternatives and semi-annually thereafter.

NASA and NOAA staff in the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) program office worked to develop a mitigation plan to address the impact of potential gaps in polar afternoon satellite data. NOAA approved the plan in October 2012.The program plans to update its plan during 2013 to include additional mitigation alternatives and semi-annually thereafter.

In February 2010, the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy made a decision to disband NPOESS--a tri-agency program managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Defense (DOD), and NASA. Instead, NOAA and DOD will develop separate satellite programs, known as the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) and the Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS) respectively. JPSS is a partnership between NOAA and NASA; NOAA has the final decision authority and is responsible for the overall JPSS program, and NASA serves as an acquisition agent. Thus, the two agencies' JPSS program is now responsible for developing the cost and schedule baseline for the polar satellite program. Our report published in June 2012 (GAO-12-604) found that the agencies have established a timeframe for putting an overall program baseline in place, which is by the end of November 2012.

The agency agreed with our recommendation and implemented it, beginning in July 2009. On behalf of the NPOESS Executive Committee, the Program Executive Officer for Environmental Satellites began tracking Executive Committee actions. The office also established a secure website to allow EXCOM Principals and their senior staff the ability to access and monitor the status of all action items on a real time basis.

The agency agreed with our recommendation and implemented it, beginning in July 2009. On behalf of the NPOESS Executive Committee, the Program Executive Officer for Environmental Satellites began tracking Executive Committee actions. The office also established a secure website to allow EXCOM Principals and their senior staff the ability to access and monitor the status of all action items on a real time basis.

The agency agreed with our recommendation and implemented it, beginning in July 2009. On behalf of the NPOESS Executive Committee, the Program Executive Officer for Environmental Satellites began tracking action items and identified desired outcomes associated with their directed actions. As part of the action item tracking, the office also ensured that time frames and responsible parties are identified for each action item.

The agency agreed with our recommendation and implemented it, beginning in July 2009. On behalf of the NPOESS Executive Committee, the Program Executive Officer for Environmental Satellites began tracking action items and identified desired outcomes associated with their directed actions. As part of the action item tracking, the office also ensured that time frames and responsible parties are identified for each action item.

The agency agreed with our recommendation and implemented it, beginning in July 2009. On behalf of the NPOESS Executive Committee, the Program Executive Officer for Environmental Satellites began tracking action items and identified desired outcomes associated with their directed actions. As part of the action item tracking, the office also ensured that time frames and responsible parties are identified for each action item.

In February 2010, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced its decision to disband the tri-agency NPOESS program. Further, it announced that DOD and NOAA would move forward with separate acquisitions to meet their needs in the morning and afternoon orbits, respectively. We consider the decision to be responsive to the many recommendations we made to address a wide array of weaknesses in the executive management structure.

In February 2010, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy announced its decision to disband the tri-agency NPOESS program. Further, it announced that DOD and NOAA would undertake separate acquisitions to meet their needs in the morning and afternoon orbits, respectively. We consider the decision to be responsive to the many recommendations we made to address a wide array of weaknesses in the executive management structure.

The Department of Defense (DOD) has canceled its follow-on program to NPOESS. In order to help mitigate the risk of a gap in the early morning orbit, the agency decided to launch both of its two remaining Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites in the early morning orbit rather than launching one in the early morning and one in the midmorning orbit as originally planned. In addition, DOD is analyzing alternative means to meet its future environmental satellite requirements.

The agency agreed with our recommendation and implemented it, beginning in July 2009. On behalf of the NPOESS Executive Committee, the Program Executive Officer for Environmental Satellites began tracking Executive Committee actions. The office also established a secure website to allow EXCOM Principals and their senior staff the ability to access and monitor the status of all action items on a real time basis.