JPSS

Joint Polar Satellite System

active Mission

Artist illustration of a gold-colored satellite against a dark atmosphere

JPSS is the nation’s advanced series of polar-orbiting environmental satellites. JPSS includes five polar-orbiting satellites with four or more instruments and a versatile ground system. The satellites currently in orbit are Suomi-NPP, NOAA-20 (JPSS-1), and NOAA-21 (JPSS-2). JPSS-3 and JPSS-4 are currently in development for launch readiness dates in 2027 and 2032.

Mission Type

Orbiter

Target

Earth

Launch

Multiple

Objective

Provide sophisticated meteorological data

NOAA and NASA, GOES and JPSS collaborate to support annular eclipse viewing.

NOAA and NASA work together to watch over our Earth, providing data for weather forecasting with a fleet of polar and geostationary orbiting satellites. The agencies also are important partners for watching the Sun’s activity and monitoring space weather, which can have impacts on our power grids and communication infrastructure.

The operational JPSS constellation currently consists of the NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership satellite, the technology pathfinder mission for JPSS launched in 2011, and NOAA-20, previously called JPSS-1 and launched in 2017. The third satellite in the series, NOAA-21 (formerly JPSS-2), launched November, 10, 2022. Once it reached its polar orbit JPSS-2 was renamed NOAA-21.

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