The Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS) was a

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

system to have been built by

Northrop Grumman Corporation Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one ...

projected for launch in 2018. In January 2012, the US Air Force cancelled the program. It was replaced with the

Weather System Follow-on Microwave The Weather System Follow-on Microwave (WSF-M) satellite is the United States Department of Defense's next-generation operational environmental satellite system. WSF-M will be a sun-synchronous Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite with a passive mi ...

(WSF-M). DWSS was a follow-on for the

Defense Meteorological Satellite Program The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) monitors meteorological, oceanographic, and solar-terrestrial physics for the United States Department of Defense. The program is managed by the United States Space Force with on-orbit operati ...

(DMSP) mission. The DWSS, together with the still continuing

Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) The Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) is the latest generation of U.S. polar-orbiting, non-geosynchronous, environmental satellites. JPSS will provide the global environmental data used in numerical weather prediction models for forecasts, and ...

project, was to replace the

National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) was to be the United States' next-generation satellite system that would monitor the Earth's weather, atmosphere, oceans, land, and near-space environment. NPOESS sate ...

(NPOESS) project which itself was cancelled in January 2010.Reuters: Northrop in $427 million U.S. Air Force satellite deal
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References

Weather satellites of the United States {{meteorology-stub