Since the 1970s, geostationary satellites have been used by the United States to provide meteorological data for weather observation, research, and forecasting. NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service is responsible for managing the civilian operational geostationary satellite system, called GOES. Geostationary satellites can maintain a constant view of the earth from a high orbit of about 22,300 miles in space. NOAA operates GOES as a two-satellite system that is primarily focused on the United States (see fig. 1). These satellites provide timely environmental data about the earth’s atmosphere, surface, cloud cover, and the space environment to meteorologists and their audiences. They also observe the development of hazardous weather, such as hurricanes and severe thunderstorms, and track their movement and intensity to reduce or avoid major losses of property and life. The ability of the satellites to provide broad, continuously updated coverage of atmospheric conditions over land and oceans is important to NOAA’s weather forecasting operations. To provide continuous satellite coverage, NOAA acquires several satellites at a time as part of a series and launches new satellites every few years (see table 1). NOAA’s policy is to have two operational satellites and one backup satellite in orbit at all times. Three viable GOES satellites—GOES-13, GOES-14, and GOES-15—are currently in orbit.with GOES-13 covering the eastern United States (GOES-East in Figure 1) and GOES-15 covering the western United States (GOES- West). GOES-14 is currently in an on-orbit storage mode and is available as a backup for the other two satellites should they experience any degradation in service. The GOES-R series is the next generation of satellites that NOAA is planning. Both GOES-13 and GOES-15 are operational satellites, Each of the operational geostationary satellites continuously transmits raw environmental data to NOAA ground stations. The data are processed at these ground stations and transmitted back to the satellite for broadcast to primary weather services and the global research community in the United States and abroad. Raw and processed data are also distributed to users via ground stations through other communication channels, such as dedicated private communication lines and the Internet. Figure 2 depicts a generic data relay pattern from a geostationary satellite to the ground stations and commercial terminals. NOAA established the GOES-R program to develop and launch the next series of geostationary satellites and to ensure the continuity of geostationary satellite observations. The GOES-R satellite series is designed to improve upon the technology of the prior satellite series in terms of system and instrument improvements. NOAA expects that the GOES-R series will significantly increase the clarity and precision of the observed environmental data. In addition, the data generated by the satellites are to be both developed and transmitted more quickly. Since its inception, the GOES-R program has undergone several changes in cost and scope. As originally envisioned, GOES-R was to encompass four satellites hosting a variety of advanced technology instruments and providing 81 environmental products. The first two satellites in the series (called GOES-R and GOES-S) were expected to launch in September 2012 and April 2014. However, in September 2006, NOAA decided to reduce the scope and technical complexity of the GOES-R program because of expectations that total costs, which were originally estimated to be $6.2 billion, could reach $11.4 billion. Specifically, NOAA reduced the minimum number of satellites from four to two, cancelled plans for developing an advanced instrument (which reduced the number of planned satellite products from 81 to 68), and divided another instrument into two separate acquisitions. The agency estimated that the revised program would cost $7 billion and kept the planned launch dates unchanged. Subsequently, NOAA made several other important decisions about the cost and scope of the GOES-R program. In 2007, NOAA established a new program cost estimate of $7.67 billion and moved the launch dates for the first two satellites to December 2014 and April 2016. Further, to mitigate the risk that costs would rise, program officials decided to remove selected program requirements from the baseline program and treat them as contract options that could be exercised if funds allowed. These requirements included the number of products to be distributed, the time to deliver the remaining products (product latency), and how often these products would be updated with new satellite data (refresh rate). For example, program officials eliminated the requirement to develop and distribute 34 of the 68 envisioned products, including low cloud and fog, sulfur dioxide detection, and cloud liquid water. Program officials included the restoration of the requirements for the products, latency times, and refresh rates as options in the ground system contract that could be acquired at a later time. Program officials later reduced the number of products that could be restored as a contract option (called option 2) from 34 to 31 because they determined that two products were no longer feasible and two others could be combined into a single product. In late 2009, NOAA changed the launch dates for the first two satellites to October 2015 and February 2017. More recently, NOAA restored two satellites to the program’s baseline, making GOES-R a four-satellite program once again. In February 2011, as part of its fiscal year 2012 budget request, NOAA requested funding to begin development for two additional satellites in the GOES-R series—GOES-T and GOES-U. The program estimated that the development for all four satellites in the GOES-R series—GOES-R, GOES-S, GOES-T, and GOES-U—would cost $10.86 billion through 2036, an increase of $3.19 billion over its 2007 life cycle cost estimate of $7.67 billion for the two-satellite program. In August 2013, the program announced that it would delay the launch of the first two satellites in the program, due in part to the effects of sequestration. Specifically, the launch of the GOES-R satellite was delayed from October 2015 to the quarter ending March 2016, and the expected GOES-S satellite launch date was moved from February 2017 to the quarter ending June 2017. See table 2 for an overview of key changes to the GOES-R program. While NOAA is responsible for GOES-R program funding and overall mission success, it implemented an integrated program management structure with NASA for the GOES-R program since it relies on NASA’s acquisition experience and technical expertise. The NOAA-NASA Program Management Council is the oversight body for the GOES-R program, and is co-chaired by the NOAA Deputy Undersecretary for Operations and the NASA Associate Administrator. NOAA also located the program office at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The GOES-R program is divided into flight and ground projects that have separate areas of responsibility and oversee different sets of contracts. The flight project, which is led by NASA, includes instruments, spacecraft, launch services, satellite integration, and on-orbit satellite initialization. The ground project, which is led by NOAA, is made up of three main components: the core ground system, an infrastructure of antennas, and a product access subsystem. In turn, the core ground system comprises four functional modules supporting operations, product generation, product distribution, and configuration control. Figure 3 depicts the integrated program management structure and the organization of the flight and ground projects within that structure, while table 3 summarizes the GOES-R instruments and their planned capabilities and table 4 describes key components of the ground project. In recent years, we issued a series of reports aimed at addressing Key areas of focus included weaknesses in the GOES-R program. (1) cost, (2) technical challenges and changes in requirements, and (3) contingency plans. Addressing cost risks: In June 2012, we reported that the GOES-R program might not be able to ensure that it had adequate resources to cover unexpected problems in remaining development. We recommended the program strengthen its process for planning and reporting on reserves. More recently, in September 2013, we reported on weaknesses in the process for reporting reserves to management and recommended the agency take action to brief senior executives on a regular basis regarding the status of reserves. The agency agreed with our recommendations and took steps to address them by identifying needed reserve levels and providing a more detailed breakdown of reserve percentage calculations. However, NOAA is not yet identifying the reserves associated with each satellite in the series. Technical issues and changes in requirements: We previously reported on issues related to GOES technical challenges and requirements. In 2012, we reported that key instruments were experiencing technical challenges and required additional redesign efforts. For example, emissions for the Geostationary Lightning Also, the Mapper instrument were outside the specified range. ground project was experiencing ongoing technical problems—for example, the definition of ground system software requirements and integration of flight instruments. As a result, revisions were made to the Core Ground System’s baseline development plan and schedule. More recently, in September 2013, we reported that NOAA made changes to several of the GOES-R requirements—including decreasing the accuracy requirement for the hurricane intensity product and decreasing the timeliness of the lightning detection product—and that end users were concerned by many of these changes. We recommended that the program improve communications with users on changes in GOES-R requirements by assessing impacts, seeking input from users, and disseminating information on changes. NOAA agreed with this recommendation and took steps to explore further avenues of user communication such as customer forums and interagency working groups. Contingency planning: In February 2013, due to the importance of environmental satellite data and the potential for a gap in this data, we added mitigating weather satellite gaps to our biennial High-Risk list. GAO-12-576.