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This unique collection of government documents provides comprehensive coverage of all aspects of current and planned American weather satellites, with material from NOAA, NASA, and independent reviews of the troubled replacement program. Contents: Launch Delayed - NOAA Faces Key Decisions on Timing of Future Satellites * Improvements Needed in NOAA's Mitigation Strategies as It Prepares for Potential Satellite Coverage Gaps * Polar Weather Satellites - NOAA Needs To Prepare for Near-term Data Gaps * Geostationary Weather Satellites - Launch Date Nears, but Remaining Schedule Risks Need to be Addressed * History of the NOAA Satellite Program * NOAA Satellite Conference 2015 Summary Report * NOAA-N Satellite, POES Program * NOAA Response - A Review of NOAA's Satellite Program: A Way Forward * NOAA's GOES R - Next Generation Satellite * NOAA Knows...Earth-Observing Satellites * Options for Modernizing Military Weather Satellites * Bridging the Gap: America's Weather Satellites and Weather Forecasting The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) $10.9 billion Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) program recently delayed the planned launch of the first satellite in the new series from March 2016 to October 2016. Based on its ongoing work, GAO found that the decision to delay the launch was due to poor schedule performance over the last few years (losing more than 10 days a month on average), recent technical issues with key components, and little schedule margin as the program entered integration testing. The October 2016 launch date may also be delayed if additional technical challenges arise or if schedule performance remains poor. NOAA recently changed assumptions about the expected lifespan of existing GOES satellites from 7 to 10 years based on the longevity of prior satellites. However, the analysis supporting this change is over 10 years old. Even with this extension, NOAA may fall short of its policy of having 2 operational