NOAA's Polar Follow On Gets Full Funding in Final FY2016 Appropriations Bill

NOAA got an early Christmas present overnight as Congress reached agreement on a final FY2016 appropriations bill.  The Polar Follow On (PFO) will get its full $370 million funding request for FY2016.  The House had zeroed the program and the Senate Appropriations Committee had recommended less than half that amount.

Congress is not, however, providing the $10 million for the Earth Observing Nanosatellite-Microwave (EON-MW) component of the program, which NOAA identified separately in its budget request, but sometimes included in the PFO total, making it $380 million instead of $370 million.

PFO is the program name for building the next two Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) spacecraft, JPSS-3 and JPSS-4.  After the House Appropriations Committee zeroed the funding, the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget wrote a letter to the committee’s chairman and ranking member calling the decision “shortsighted” and likely to cause gaps in weather satellite coverage.   Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) offered an amendment during House consideration of the bill to restore the funding, but it was ruled out of order because she did not offer corresponding cuts to pay for it.

Congress reached agreement on a final FY2016 appropriations package very early this morning.  The bill, H.R. 2029, and explanatory statement are posted on the website of the House Rules Committee.  A quick look shows that the JPSS program (for the first two spacecraft) and the GOES-R program are fully funded.  

Check back here later for more details on how NOAA’s satellite programs fared.