Accession Number:

ADA564973

Title:

Options for Modernizing Military Weather Satellites

Descriptive Note:

Working paper

Corporate Author:

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE (U S CONGRESS) WASHINGTON DC

Personal Author(s):

• Bennett, Michael

Report Date:

2012-09-01

Pagination or Media Count:

36.0

Abstract:

Over the next several years, the Department of Defense DoD will launch the last of its weather satellites, which it uses to plan military operations and generate weather forecasts. Long-running efforts to develop replacements for those satellites encountered schedule and cost difficulties, and in December 2011, the Congress directed DoD to cancel its latest program and to prepare for a follow-on program. DoDs plans now call for a new development effort, but it has not yet determined the capabilities it wants in that satellite. In this paper, the Congressional Budget Office CBO examines three different satellite design concepts that DoD might consider and compares the cost and capability of those designs. The paper also discusses alternative approaches that DoD might take, such as fielding single instruments on several small satellites instead of several instruments on a single satellite, and foregoing a new generation of military weather satellites altogether and instead relying on other sources for weather data.

Descriptors:

• *COSTS
• *DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
• *INSTRUMENTATION
• *METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITES
• *MILITARY CAPABILITIES
• *MILITARY MODERNIZATION
• *REPLACEMENT
• INFRARED IMAGES
• LIFE EXPECTANCY(SERVICE LIFE)
• MILITARY PLANNING
• POLAR ORBIT TRAJECTORIES
• RISK ANALYSIS
• SATELLITE IMAGERY
• SCHEDULING
• WEATHER FORECASTING

Subject Categories:

• Meteorology
• Economics and Cost Analysis
• Military Forces and Organizations
• Military Operations, Strategy and Tactics
• Unmanned Spacecraft

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE