On September 6, 2003, the NASA-managed NOAA N-Prime weather satellite slipped from a turnover cart at Lockheed Martin’s Sunnyvale plant and fell about three feet to the floor after another project had removed the 24 bolts securing the cart’s adapter plate; the removal was never marked or communicated, and the handling team relied on old paperwork instead of physically checking the fixture.

On September 6, 2003, the NASA-managed NOAA N-Prime weather satellite slipped from a turnover cart at Lockheed Martin’s Sunnyvale plant and fell about three feet to the floor after another project had removed the 24 bolts securing the cart’s adapter plate; the removal was never marked or communicated, and the handling team relied on old paperwork instead of physically checking the fixture.

NASA’s investigation traced the factory accident to missing fixture bolts, reliance on earlier paperwork and failures of planning and oversight. The repaired satellite later launched as NOAA-19 and operated until 2025.