Michaelangelo León

Whether it’s getting snowed in during a blizzard, experiencing hurricane season or having your flight canceled due to a severe storm, everyone is affected by the weather—and the U.S. military is no exception.

But until recently, the Defense Department relied on a constellation of outdated and unreliable satellites, some launched in the 1960s, to provide service members and naval fleets with weather data critical to military operations.

Today, this data is more timely, trustworthy and accurate thanks to Michaelangelo León, an engineer with the U.S. Space Force who led the development of the Weather System Follow-on—Microwave, a next-generation satellite that will enable the military to better predict meteorological changes that affect its missions around the world.

“Michaelangelo has been instrumental in ensuring that we understand the environment we operate in, that our warfighters execute operations safely and that we protect Defense Department resources that are vital to U.S. national security,” said Brian Pittman, lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Space Force.

León grew up in a military family and knew he wanted to go into federal service after college. In 2017, he took his first job at Edwards Air Force Base in California, where he developed an appreciation for working hands-on with technical military equipment.

“I didn’t know what cool opportunities there were in the civilian workforce,” he said. “I got to sit in an aircraft and play around with parts, and I learned a lot,” he said.

He recalled “falling immediately in love” with the plans to launch the Weather System Follow-on—Microwave satellite when he was put on the project in 2020.

His responsibilities ranged from leading the production of the satellite’s sensors to overseeing the satellite’s launch and early-orbit test campaign, which required him to calibrate more than $500 million worth of equipment, resolve a technical glitch in an instrument designed to detect potential space threats to the satellite and train more than 100 people in mission operations.

The result was completing a complex series of test flight safety checks weeks ahead of schedule and a successful launch in April 2024.

Since the launch, the satellite has been providing Navy and Air Force weather centers, and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, with mission-critical data, such as ocean surface vector winds, land soil moisture, and measurements of sea ice and snow depth. This data has also enabled the Defense Department to better track severe weather events such as Hurricanes Debby, Beryl and Milton.

Currently, León and his team are calibrating and validating their data, laying the groundwork for the satellite to be used in support of potential military operations by fall 2025.

“I am proud of seeing the satellite through from beginning to end to ensure it supports our warfighters and service members, day to day. It is a capability that is really needed if you want your military to excel,” León said.