What project 65A039 buys
The Weather System Follow-on - Microwave (WSF-M) Project 65A039 includes funds for the WSF-M system, the Compact Ocean Wind Vector Radiometer (COWVR) technology demonstration, and the Energetic Charged Particle (ECP) sensor development. Weather System Follow-on (WSF) is a Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) microwave imaging system developed and delivered by the United States Space Force's Space Systems Command (SSC). WSF is the next generation of space-based passive microwave sensing technology. It will provide U.S. and Allied warfighters with essential weather data, including the measurement of ocean surface wind speed and direction, ice thickness, snow depth, soil moisture, and local spacecraft energetic charged particle environment. The ocean surface wind speed measurement enables tropical cyclone intensity determination by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The data gathered by WSF will be provided to meteorologists in support of the generation of a wide variety of weather products necessary to conduct mission planning and operations globally. WSF is an Acquisition Category IB program comprised of two Space Vehicles (SV) and their associated command, control, and data dissemination network. Global environmental monitoring data is gathered, stored, and downlinked through the Satellite Control Network (SCN) and disseminated to Air Force and Navy weather centers. Additionally, data is broadcast real time by the satellite for utilization by heritage Direct Readout Terminals that use the data for local weather forecasting. WSF is a Major Defense Acquisition Program (MDAP) with the Space Force as the lead component. Founded on the Space-Based Environmental Monitoring (SBEM) Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) results, the WSF will be to enable: 1) Timely weather collection over broad oceans in support of maneuvering forces. 2) Space weather capabilities to characterize operational orbits, space situational awareness, and the ionosphere. Secondary investments may be supported to address weather gaps identified in the SBEM AoA and validated by the JROC. The Space Force will pursue prototyping of latest commercial industry capabilities for simplified designs to meet the SBEM Gap requirements. COWVR is an on-orbit demonstration project of the new COWVR technology to deliver Weather Gap #3, Ocean Surface Vector Winds (OSVW) and Gap #8, Tropical Cyclone Intensity (TCI).
- Product Development
- Management Services
Project 65A039 funding, FY2025–FY2031
Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 45.5 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 35.9 |
| FY2027 | Request | 32.7 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 23.0 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 0.0 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 0.0 |
3 accomplishments / planned programs
The R-2A exhibit — the only level of the budget that describes work that has not happened yet. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only, no five-year plan. 1 of them describes FY2027 work in enough detail to have its own page; the rest are shown here in full. Coverage is partial across the corpus, so count activities, never total them.
Complete integration and test for WSF-M SV-2. Complete launch preparation activities, including Day-in-the Life and Integrated Crew Exercises. Conduct SV-2 Launch and Early On-orbit Test Activities and post-launch calibration/validation activities. Conduct on-orbit trending analysis factory reach-back and operational support for SV-1 and…
Read the FY2027 plan →FY2026 to FY2027 change FY27 decrease due to end of COWVR activities in FY26.
FY2026 plans — current year Continue COWVR contract closeout activities including final reporting.
FY2026 plans — current year The build and integration of the ECP sensor was finished in September 2025. No additional funding specific to ECP is necessary.
Named performers on project 65A039
Performers named in the R-3 exhibit under this project. Share is of the project's whole FY2027 R-3 total — the same denominator the program-element split uses, so the two read on one scale and will not sum to 100% when unnamed or government work is in the mix. Budget-justification contract funding, not obligations.