The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was formed in 1970 and is responsible for U.S. weather forecasting, ocean and climate science, and the country’s weather satellites. NASA usually builds and launches its spacecraft, and NOAA operates them.
Most of NOAA’s satellites orbit close to Earth, but space weather forecasting takes it farther out. From the Sun-Earth L1 point, about 1.5 million kilometers away, NOAA monitors the solar wind to give early warning of solar storms that can damage satellites and power grids. Its SOLAR-1 spacecraft took up that watch in 2025.
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