Ranking Member Johnson Welcomes Successful Launch of Next Generation Weather and Climate Satellite

Press Release

Today, House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Ranking Member, Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) offered her congratulations on the successful launch of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite. NPP is a NASA Earth science research and polar-orbiting satellite that will extend long-term NASA Earth science data observations on the Earth system--clouds, oceans, vegetation, ice, solid Earth, and atmosphere--while also collecting critical and improved data necessary for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-issued operational weather forecasts and environmental monitoring efforts. In this capacity, NPP is the first satellite to simultaneously monitor weather and climate. NPP will measure more than 30 different climate variables such as global ice cover, atmospheric ozone levels, and the growth of plants and monitor natural disasters like wildfires, floods, as well as volcanic eruptions.

NPP serves as a bridge between currently operating polar-orbiting satellites that have exceeded their lifespans and the next generation of polar orbiting satellites, formerly known as the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). NPOESS has been restructured as the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), although delays in funding for the restructured program have threatened the continuity of critical weather data. There is a significant risk that the U.S. will lose polar satellite coverage due to a projected gap of fourteen to twenty months between NPP's expected life in orbit and the time when the first JPSS satellite can be launched and brought on-line. This would limit the National Weather Service's ability to produce weather predictions beyond the 2-4 day range and would severely impact the recording of information on the changing climate.

Ranking Member Johnson made the following statement:

"I congratulate NASA and NOAA on the successful launch of the NPP spacecraft this morning. This satellite has encountered many technical and programmatic challenges and the success of NPP's launch today is in no small part due to the dedication and commitment of the NASA and NOAA workforce who have made good progress in addressing those challenges. NPP will provide critical information on the climate and weather that will not only help us better understand the planet on which we live, but will also help protect the lives and property of American providing a critically important service in light of the severe weather events that have been occurring across the country. I sincerely hope that my colleagues in Congress will work to fund JPSS in a timely manner to help mitigate the anticipated gap in these essential data."

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