NPOESS was a planned multi-agency satellite system designed to monitor global weather, atmosphere, oceans, and land surface conditions. Managed jointly by NOAA, the Department of Defense, and NASA, the program aimed to consolidate civilian and military weather satellite networks into a single platform. The project suffered severe cost overruns and technical delays, ultimately leading to its cancellation and restructuring.
Heard on the job
The sensor payload originally designed for NPOESS ended up flying on the Suomi NPP satellite instead.