NOAA 15-19 (K-O)
1998 - Present
A part of the TIROS series of satellites provided by NASA,?NOAA-15 was launched by NOAA in May 1998 with an original operational time of two years. However, the unit, as of 2018, was still fully operational and was a well-known delivery point for civilian receiving stations. Its operational issues came from a reported loss of lubricant in its scan motor for the AVHRR imaging sensor.?As of 2020, the NOAA-15 satellite serves as the secondary AM satellite to NOAA-20, the latest generation of POES.
NOAA-16,?another TIROS series satellite,?was launched on September 21, 2000. Its payload included the AMSU, AVHRR, and High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS) instruments' APT transmitter, along with an SBUV/2 instrument. However, NOAA-16’s APT has been inoperable since November 2000 due to sensor degradation and was decommissioned in 2014 after a critical anomaly.
NOAA-17, a sister unit to the NOAA-16,?was launched on June 24, 2002. Significant instruments aboard the satellite include AMSU, AVHRR, and HRIS. After 11 years of collecting imaging, moisture, and atmospheric data, the satellite was decommissioned in 2013.
Launched in 2005, the NOAA-18 satellite contained similar instruments as the NOAA-17, its contemporary that would fly around the world during the morning hours; NOAA-18 would take over for the other half of the day. Notable equipment upgrades include the COSPAS-SARSAT SARP instrument. While still operational, several instruments aboard the NOAA-18 satellite have failed, including the OAA-18 MIMU laser gyros and AVHRR imagery (while usable, has geolocation errors.) NOAA-18 changed frequencies with NOAA-19 on June 23, 2009, and is now the secondary PM satellite to supplement NOAA-20 operations.
NOAA-19, also known as NOAA-N-Prime,?was launched in 2009 after suffering manufacturing mishaps in 2003 that cost the U.S. government $135 million to correct. The NOAA-19 satellite contains an advanced version of the SARP instrument (SARP-3), but not the NOAA-18’s DCS system. The AVHRR and AMSU systems were both designated for a three-year mission. As of 2020, all instruments aboard the satellite are operating at optimal conditions.