Defense Department will continue providing critical weather satellite data to NOAA

Source: ABC News

July 30, 2025, 1:26 PM


A little over a month since the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that it and the National Weather Service (NWS) would no longer be receiving critical satellite weather data used in forecasting hurricanes, the Department of Defense now says it will continue to provide the agencies information from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS).

The U.S. Navy told ABC News that its Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center “had planned to phase out the data as part of a Defense Department modernization effort. But after feedback from government partners, officials found a way to meet modernization goals while keeping the data flowing until the sensor fails or the program formally ends in September 2026.”

The Navy previously told ABC News in a statement that "We can confirm that the Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center will no longer contribute to processing and disseminating Defense Meteorological Satellite Program data on July 31, 2025, in accordance with Department of Defense policy.

DMSP is a joint program owned by the U.S. Space Force and scheduled for discontinuation in September 2026. The Navy is discontinuing contributions to DMSP given the program no longer meets our information technology modernization requirements."

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/defense-department-continue-providing-critical-weather-satellite-data/story?id=124211197