The NASA-NOAA Partnership
NASA and NOAA are actively engaged in a cooperative program to develop and launch the NOAA Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES). NOAA is responsible for program requirements, funding and the on-orbit operation of the multisatellite system. NOAA also determines the need for satellite replacement. NOAA designs and develops the ground system needed to acquire, process and disseminate the satellite data. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is responsible for the construction, integration and verification testing of the spacecraft, instruments and unique ground equipment. NOAA-M will be launched by the U.S. Air Force on a refurbished ballistic missile, a Titan II. After launch, NASA checks out the satellite to assure it meets its performance requirements. NASA turns operational control of the spacecraft over to NOAA after 21 days of comprehensive subsystem checkout. An on-orbit instrument performance verification period lasts an additional 24 days.

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NOAA-M

Introduction
The NASA-NOAA Partnership
Spacecraft Design and Orbit Command
The NOAA POES System in Weather Forecasting and the Future