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	Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
	FY98 Annual Report

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010

The National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) is a Tri-Agency program jointly administered by DoD, the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It is being acquired under U.S. Air Force acquisition authority. NPOESS will provide a national remote-sensing capability to acquire and disseminate global and regional environmental data for a period of at least ten years after initial operational capability is achieved.

For military users, NPOESS will provide an enduring capability to receive and disseminate global and regional meteorological, environmental, and associated data at varying update rates depending on military needs. These data shall include, but are not limited to, cloud imagery, atmospheric temperature and moisture, and solar-geophysical data to support worldwide military operations. NPOESS will provide the warfighter with the information superiority needed to execute the operational concept of dominant maneuver. NPOESS will enhance our forces' ability to plan and execute mobile air, land, and sea operations throughout a large spectrum of challenging environmental conditions and within the enemy's decision cycle.

NPOESS contains the following segments:

• The Space segment, comprised of satellite platforms containing sensors and communications devices, will collect, store, and downlink data to the C³ segment and users on the ground. The satellites will selectively download all data to ground stations, as well as provide continuous downlink of data for receipt by worldwide deployed DoD field units.



• The Launch Support segment comprises launch facilities and support equipment. NPOESS is expected to operate in a sun-synchronous, near-polar orbit between 750 km and 1200 km in altitude.



• The C³ segment includes all functions required for day-to-day state of health monitoring of all operating spacecraft, and supports the delivery of data to the designated primary terminals known as Centrals.



• The Interface Data Processor (IDP) segment comprises data processing functions for two subcomponents, the Centrals, and the Field Terminals. Stored data will be delivered to the Centrals' Interface Data Processor component, via the C³ segment. In addition, the spacecraft will provide real-time data directly to military field terminal components and surface receivers operated by worldwide weather services and other agencies. This real-time data will be available to receivers within direct site of the NPOESS satellite while it is overhead.

The U.S. government currently operates and maintains two polar-orbiting meteorological satellite programs. The USAF operates the military's Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), while NOAA operates the Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) program. To reduce the costs of acquiring and operating polar-orbiting satellites, a White House decision to integrate the two weather satellite programs into a single converged system was announced in May 1994. This decision, as part of a National Performance Review recommendation, is expected to save the U.S. government up to an estimated $300 million in the FY96-FY99 period, with additional savings expected after FY99.

NPOESS OT&E will be a Tri-Agency operational test program with AFOTEC as the DoD lead test agency. The operational test program will consist of OAs, combined DT/OT, and an end-to-end IOT&E of the military portions of the NPOESS system.

The OAs will be performed to evaluate system progress towards demonstrating operational effectiveness and suitability by reviewing program documentation, monitoring contractor activities, and reviewing developmental test data related to operational requirements. The operational test community will be involved in Integrated Product Teams (IPT), and will provide periodic updates of how the program is progressing to all IPT members throughout NPOESS development.

Combined DT/OT will be used when appropriate to minimize the time required for dedicated IOT&E and to reduce the design risk, by providing an operational perspective as early as possible in the acquisition process. During dedicated IOT&E, the operational testers will conduct testing on production-representative hardware and software, supplementing this with data from validated and accredited Modeling & Simulation tools. Testing will employ typical users trained and certified in NPOESS operations and maintenance-individuals skilled in conducting a combination of real-world events and scenarios.

NPOESS is still in the risk reduction phase for the sensors and satellite. No components of the NPOESS on-orbit system will be built or coded until well after the year 2000. NPOESS's test and acceptance procedures will ensure Y2K compatibility during sub-system testing and system acceptance testing procedures. The NPOESS Program Office is currently responsible for the planning and commanding segments of the operational DMSP satellites, using a system called the Integrated Polar Acquisition and Control Subsystem (IPACS). IPACS flight operations software has been fully certified as Y2K compliant. Heritage DoD mission planning software is being certified as Y2K compliant with a projected completion date of December 1998; it will be replaced with upgraded Y2K compliant software prior to September 1999.