July 1, 2025
Space Force cancels GOES satellites as NOAA warns of hurricane blind spots
Pentagon cuts hurricane-tracking satellites during hurricane season.
🌱Environment🛡️National Security📋Public Policy
The Pentagon just pulled the plug on satellites that help forecasters see inside hurricanes—right in the middle of hurricane season.
With five days notice, they cut off data that tracks how storms rapidly strengthen overnight, the kind of intelligence that prevents "sunrise surprises" where communities wake up facing killer hurricanes they weren't warned about.
The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) has operated since the 1960s, providing military and civilian weather data for over 60 years.
In late June 2025, the Department of Defense announced it would stop processing and sharing DMSP data by June 30 (later extended to July 31), coinciding with peak hurricane season and record‐low Arctic sea ice.
The Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS) aboard DMSP satellites uses microwave radiation to penetrate cloud cover and reveal a hurricane’s internal structure, enabling early detection of rapid intensification (wind increases of 35+ mph in 24 hours).
DMSP satellites supply roughly 50% of all microwave data used for hurricane forecasting and have been the primary real‐time source of Arctic sea ice monitoring, which affects shipping routes and national security planning.
The Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) processes raw DMSP data and distributes it to civilian forecasters, including the National Hurricane Center.
Project 2025 calls for dismantling and downsizing NOAA’s climate research functions. The abrupt DMSP termination aligns with this broader pattern of budget cuts, research defunding, and elimination of climate science infrastructure.
Hurricane experts from NOAA and independent researchers have warned that losing DMSP data with only five days’ notice undermines public safety, disproportionately impacts low‐income and minority communities, and sets a precedent for military agencies to unilaterally cut off civilian data.
Although the newer WSF-M satellite launched in April 2024 can replace DMSP’s microwave capability, its data have not been shared with civilian forecasters. Scientists must otherwise rely on less‐frequent Japanese satellite measurements, which require extra calibration.
🌱Environment🛡️National Security📋Public Policy
People, bills, and sources
Dr. Karen St. Germain, NASA Earth Science Division (intervened to delay the shutdown)
Actor
What You Can Do
1
Track and review bills related to NOAA funding, data‐sharing requirements, and climate infrastructure on congress.gov to monitor legislative proposals and deadlines.
2
Contact your U.S. Representative and Senators to express support for transparent data‐sharing policies and sustained investment in weather and climate observation programs.
3
Submit public comments on budget and regulatory proposals via federalregister.gov to ensure agencies hear input on the importance of civilian access to environmental data.
4
Monitor official updates at noaa.gov and nasa.gov for current status of satellite programs, data releases, and possible extensions or restorations of DMSP data.
5
Learn how to file Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests through agency websites to obtain more detailed explanations for policy changes affecting public safety systems.
6
Engage with local emergency management organizations and community preparedness groups to understand how reliable forecasting data supports evacuation planning and resource allocation.