# NOAA-21
*missions*

NOAA-21 (formerly JPSS-2) is the second operational satellite of the Joint Polar Satellite System. Launched 10 November 2022 on a Northrop Grumman LEOStar-3 bus, it flies a 833 km sun-synchronous orbit and carries four instruments: ATMS, CrIS, VIIRS, and OMPS. Declared fully operational 8 November 2023; became primary afternoon PM satellite 20 March 2024. Design life to December 2030.

## Specifications
- **operator**: noaa
- **actual launch**: 2022-11-10
- **current status**: operational
- **orbit type**: sun-synchronous
- **orbit altitude km**: 833
- **orbit inclination deg**: 98.8
- **entity type**: mission
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-11
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: noaa
- **attributes**: {"summary":"NOAA-21 (formerly JPSS-2) is the second operational satellite of the Joint Polar Satellite System. Launched 10 November 2022 on a Northrop Grumman LEOStar-3 bus, it flies a 833 km sun-synchronous orbit and carries four instruments: ATMS, CrIS, VIIRS, and OMPS. Declared fully operational 8 November 2023; became primary afternoon PM satellite 20 March 2024. Design life to December 2030.","operator":"noaa","actual_launch":"2022-11-10","current_status":"operational","orbit_type":"sun-synchronous","orbit_altitude_km":833,"orbit_inclination_deg":98.8}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
NOAA-21, formerly designated JPSS-2 (Joint Polar Satellite System-2), is the second operational satellite of the JPSS programme, a U.S. NOAA and NASA polar-orbiting meteorological constellation. The spacecraft is built on a Northrop Grumman LEOStar-3 bus and was launched 10 November 2022. It operates in a sun-synchronous orbit at 833 km altitude with an inclination of 98.8 degrees.[^wmo-oscar-noaa-21]

NOAA-21 carries four instruments: ATMS (Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder), CrIS (Cross-track Infrared Sounder), VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite), and OMPS (Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite). Unlike NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP, NOAA-21 does not carry CERES; the CERES instrument was not confirmed on JPSS-2 in publicly available documentation at time of research.[^wmo-oscar-noaa-21][^nesdis-noaa21-operational]

NOAA-21 was declared fully operational on 8 November 2023 and became the primary PM (afternoon-orbit) satellite on 20 March 2024.[^nesdis-noaa21-operational] Design life extends to December 2030.[^wmo-oscar-noaa-21]

## Compositional position
- NOAA-21 --[mission_payloads]--> atms (products)
- nasa-black-marble-vnp46 (data_products) --[related]--> NOAA-21

## Sources
- [wmo-oscar-noaa-21] | WMO OSCAR satellite view: NOAA-21 | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/noaa_21 | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-11
- [wiki-noaa-21] | NOAA-21, Wikipedia | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NOAA-21 | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-11
- [nesdis-noaa21-operational] | NOAA-21 is Operational, NESDIS | https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/noaa-21-operational | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-11

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/missions/noaa-21
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)