Work begins on Defense Weather Satellite System by engineers at Northrop Grumman

Posted by John McHale
LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., 28 May 2011. U.S. Air Force officials Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) granted authorization to engineers at Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC) in Redondo Beach, Calif., to proceed on a Department of Defense weather satellite system -- called the Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS) -- expected to launch in 2018.
This new satellite will build on the capabilities of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program.
Enhanced weather data that is crucial to battlefield commanders will be provided by DWSS more than systems today.
DWSS follows on the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), which has provided weather information for military users for more than four decades.
The DWSS is required to provide reliable, high-fidelity, near real time information about weather and environmental conditions around the world to inform aviation, naval, and coastal marine operations and land assets. Information related to protecting assets in space from solar and other hazardous space weather conditions also will be provided by DWSS.