On Second Thought, We'll Take Two

Way back in 1994 when twitter described only the high pitched sounds made by birds, some smart folks at the Defense Department, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA figured out they could save a lot of money by developing a weather satellite system to satisfy both Defense and civilian requirements, rather than building separate systems for both.

Thus came forth the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) intended to provide better weather coverage at a higher resolution than existing Defense or NOAA satellites -- with costs pegged at $5.5 billion.

Due to a variety or reasons, including vexing problems with a Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite sensor package, the projected cost of the NPOESS has now almost doubled to $12.5 billion, and the launch of the first satellite has slipped from 2009 to 2014. But, hey, you just can't buy a Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite sensor package at Target.

The House Armed Services Committee has just about had it with the system and suggested in its report on the fiscal 2010 Defense authorization bill that it would now make more sense to buy separate Defense and civilian satellite systems.

It turns out that managing such a complex program with three agencies amounts to a daunting task, the report said.

The committee said it is aware of the cost, schedule and management issues that continue to impede progress on NPOESS and "is not confident that the tri-agency executive committee governing the program can remedy the chronic problems plaguing this national priority acquisition."

The committee wants Defense, NASA and NOAA to either improve the NPOESS program management structure or opt for development of separate Defense and civilian weather satellites.

Since the current weather satellites will only continue to operate until 2014, I hope NOAA has not thrown away its barometers.