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Weather System Follow-on Microwave
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<p>The Weather System Follow-on Microwave (WSF-M) satellite is the <a href="/facts/United_States_Department_of_Defense/dWAvf7e3">United States Department of Defense's</a> next-generation operational <a href="/facts/Environmental_satellite/WK2zGRSV">environmental satellite</a> system. WSF-M will be a <a href="/facts/Sun-synchronous_orbit/3HonupUd">Sun-synchronous</a> <a href="/facts/Low_Earth_orbit/rq1TwayJ">low Earth orbit</a> (LEO) satellite with a passive <a href="/facts/Microwave_imaging/a1dC2Ce1">microwave imaging</a> radiometer instrument and hosted furnished Energetic Charged Particle (ECP) sensor. <a href="/facts/Space_Operations_Command/GGy5aJKt">Space Operations Command</a> intends to include ECP sensors on all future satellites for <a href="/facts/Space_weather/FfwUCv2G">space weather</a> monitoring, starting from the early 2020s. WSF-M was launched in April 2024 on a <a href="/facts/Falcon_9_Block_5/0QqsLwWb">Falcon 9 Block 5</a> rocket from <a href="/facts/Vandenberg_Space_Force_Base/CHNed3F4">Vandenberg Space Force Base</a>. </p><p>WSF-M is the first satellite in the Weather System Follow-on (WSF) program. Following the cancellation of the <a href="/facts/National_Polar-orbiting_Operational_Environmental_Satellite_System/dRtbLV21">National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System</a> (NPOESS), the Air Force continued the development of a weather satellite under the <a href="/facts/Defense_Weather_Satellite_System/EXmnCgX3">Defense Weather Satellite System</a> (DWSS) program based on <a href="/facts/NPOESS/dRtbLV21">NPOESS</a>. However, when that system faced delays and funding issues, the White House cancelled it and instituted the WSF program. </p><p>WSF-M is designed to mitigate three high priority U.S. DoD Space-Based Environmental Monitoring (SBEM) gaps: ocean surface vector winds, tropical cyclone intensity and LEO energetic charged particles. </p> <ul> <li>Spaceflight portal</li></ul>