This is the next generation US weather satellite, known as NPOESS. The Humvee of the breed, it bristles with advanced infrared, microwave, and optical sensors. The microwave sensors, which operate at longer wavelengths, perform better than IR in the presence of clouds, but can be degraded by heavy precipitation and offer poorer vertical resolution owing to fewer available frequencies. Both IR and microwave provide only moderate temperature accuracy (1-3° C) and vertical resolution (3-6 km) and require regular external calibration to produce useful data. The projected cost of NPOESS has now reached $12.5 billion for four satellites, or about $430M for each sensor placed in orbit.  In addition, the projected cost of two new GOES-R geosynchronous weather satellites has reached $8 billion, or more than $650M per sensor in orbit. NPOESS will not be ready for launch until 2013 and GOES-R until 2014.