A bill under consideration in Congress would move the acquisition authority for weather satellites to the National Reconnaissance Office.
WASHINGTON – The National Reconnaissance Office is set to take over some weather missions from the Air Force after the House of Representatives voted Thursday to give the agency “the acquisition programs necessary to meet the national security requirements for cloud characterization and theater weather imagery.”
The move had been expected since April, when, in a draft for the National Defense Authorization Act for 2017, the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee said they wanted the Air Force to start handing over responsibility for the weather missions.
“The committee has been concerned with the Air Force’s lack of planning, coordination, and execution of activities to meet the top two Joint Requirements Oversight Council certified requirements for space-based environmental monitoring,” a report accompanying the April draft said.
The move of the weather missions is part of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017, which passed the House on a 390-30 vote. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it is not expected to face much opposition.
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