Climate change sensors and weather tracking duties are apparently too much for a single satellite to accomplish now that the Office of Science and Technology Policy has split the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System effort into two parts. NPOESS was launched in 1994 as a collaboration among the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Defense Department and NASA, to develop and launch weather satellites into polar regions for forecasting and weather tracking.  

NOAA and NASA are responsible for climate sensors in an effort dubbed the Joint Polar Satellite System, while the Defense Department is leading another program called Defense Meteorological Satellites Program that will focus on weather functions. As for weather data collection, DoD will collect early-morning observations and NOAA and NASA will collect afternoon observations.

NPOESS was "crippled by a management structure that delayed decisions at critical moments," said Congressman Brad Miller (D-N.C.) at a June 29 hearing by the House Science and Technology Committee. But Miller expressed concern that splitting NPOESS in two might not be a solution.

"There was a reason for having a single program in the first place, and splitting the program in two may simply create two new programs with the same problems. There are plenty of reasons to keep attention fixed on these new programs," said Miller.  

For more:
- see this House Committee on Science and Technology press release
- see this recent GAO report (.pdf) on environmental satellites
- see this recent GAO report (.pdf) on polar-orbiting environmental satellites

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