COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Space Force on Thursday launched an operational weather satellite for the first time in a decade, as it upgrades a meteorological network that’s been in orbit for more than half a century. The Ball Aerospace-built satellite lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on April 11. The spacecraft is part of the Weather Satellite Follow-on Microwave program, or WSF-M.
The launch is a first step toward modernizing the Space Force’s 60-year-old weather constellation, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. The legacy satellites’ sensors can measure things like moisture in the atmosphere, cloud cover, and precipitation — data that the military uses to plan its missions. The WSF-M satellite can detect wind speeds and tropical storm intensity and determine snow and soil depth.
The Pentagon has been trying for more than 20 years to develop a replacement for DMSP. The Mitchell Institute, a DC-based aerospace think tank, reported in November 2023 that the military is at risk due to past missteps in weather satellite development. Two more satellites are planned for launch in 2028 to enhance weather monitoring capabilities. The Space Force will also explore ideas from companies for commercially available weather capabilities to inform its new space weather architecture.
