(U) Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES)

(The effects of any budget/program decisions made since the information was collected during 1997-98 are NOT reflected in the National Security Space Road Map (NSSRM).)

Overview: (U)
(U) The POES project provides management and technical expertise for procuring the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) K, L, M, N and N' spacecraft (including sensors), unique ground equipment, launch site payload processing, launch vehicle interface surveillance, launch operations, and initial satellite activation and evaluation of in-orbit spacecraft for turnover to NOAA for operational use.  Under direction of the National Performance Review (NPR) and the Presidential Decision Directive-2 (May 1994), the follow-on to DMSP will be converged with the Department of Commerce's (DOC's) Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) program to become the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).  

Description: (U)
(U)  The Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) Project is a cooperative effort between the National Air and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United Kingdon (UK), and France. 

(U)  NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is responsible for the construction, integration and launch of NOAA satellites. Operational control of the spacecraft is turned over to NOAA after it is checked out on orbit, normally 21 days after launch. The NOAA satellites carry seven scientific instruments and two for Search and Rescue.

(U)  The POES mission is composed of two polar orbiting satellites.  These satellites primarily provide long-range weather forecasting.  Operating as a pair, these satellites ensure that non-visible data, for any region of the Earth, is no more than six hours old.  POES data provides economic, humanistic, and environmental benefits on a continuous, reliable basis.  POES satellites are launched from Vandenberg AFB, CA and have been launched on the Atlas and Titan II rockets.

User Impact: (U)
(U) To be supplied.

Programmatics: (U)
(U) Operational.
	(U) Termination: 01/2010 (2QFY2010).

Related Initiatives: (U)
(U) Atlas, NEMSS, NPOESS, Titan II, Western Range

Related Requirements: (U)
(U) None.

Related Categories: (U)
(U) Environmental, Space Systems

Road Map Placements: (U)
(U) ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING, Major DoD Space Programs.

Lead Office: (U)
(U) NOAA.

Date of Information: (U)
07 August 1997

(The effects of any budget/program decisions made since the information was collected during 1997-98 are NOT reflected in the National Security Space Road Map (NSSRM).)