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Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites: Acquisition Is Under Way, but Improvements Needed in Management and Oversight

GAO-09-323 Published: Apr 02, 2009. Publicly Released: Apr 23, 2009.
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Highlights

The Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with the aid of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), plans to procure the next generation of geostationary operational environmental satellites, called the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R series (GOES-R). GOES-R is to replace the current series of satellites, which will likely begin to reach the end of their useful lives in approximately 2014. This series is considered critical to the United States' ability to maintain the continuity of data required for weather forecasting through the year 2028. GAO was asked to (1) determine the status of the GOES-R program, (2) evaluate whether plans for the acquisition address problems experienced on similar programs, and (3) determine whether NOAA's plan will be adequate to support current data requirements. To do so, GAO analyzed contractor and program data and interviewed officials from NOAA and NASA.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Commerce To improve NOAA's ability to effectively manage the GOES-R program, the Secretary of Commerce should direct the NOAA Administrator to, as part of any effort to rebaseline the cost and schedule of the Advanced Baseline Imager, perform an integrated baseline review and ensure that the review includes an assessment of key schedule milestones, the adequacy of resources, task and technical planning, and management processes.
Closed – Implemented
The agency agreed with our recommendation. In September 2009, the GOES-R program performed a comprehensive integrated baseline review of the Advanced Baseline Imager, which included an assessment of key schedule milestones, the adequacy of resources, task and technical planning, and management processes.
Department of Commerce To improve NOAA's ability to effectively manage the GOES-R program, the Secretary of Commerce should direct the NOAA Administrator to improve the agency's ability to oversee contractor performance by ensuring that the reasons for cost and schedule variances are fully disclosed and documented.
Closed – Implemented
The agency agreed with this recommendation. Since our report was issued, the agency has discussed and documented the reasons for cost and schedule variances during its meetings with the contractor.
Department of Commerce To improve NOAA's ability to effectively manage the GOES-R program, the Secretary of Commerce should direct the NOAA Administrator to, if feasible and justified, develop a plan and timeline for recovering the advanced capabilities that were removed from the program when the Hyperspectral Environmental Suite was cancelled.
Closed – Implemented
NOAA agreed with this recommendation and took actions to determine whether the recovery of HES functions were feasible and justified. Specifically, in June 2009, NOAA awarded several contracts to evaluate the feasibility of acquiring atmospheric sounding data and ocean color imaging from a commercial vendor. Based on these evaluations, NOAA determined that it was not feasible or justified to acquire these advanced capabilities. However, the agency continued to search for options that did not involve acquiring new sensors or satellites. In April 2010, NOAA documented options and timelines for obtaining ocean color observations. These plans included, among other things, establishing an arrangement with the Indian Space Research Organization's to access ocean color data from its OceanSat-2 satellite, as well as establishing and funding an ocean color data processing system capability at NOAA by 2012.

Full Report

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Topics

Cost analysisCost overrunsData collectionData integrityEarth resources satellitesEarth sciences data systemsGeosynchronous satellitesLessons learnedProcurement planningProgram evaluationProgram managementReporting requirementsRisk managementSatellitesSchedule slippagesStrategic planningTechnologyTechnology assessmentWeatherWeather forecastingCost estimatesProgram implementation