As the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and U.S. Air Force await direction from the White House on possible changes to a troubled civil-military weather satellite effort, the program’s top official announced he will resign Jan. 8. Dan Stockton, program executive officer for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), informed NOAA, NASA and Defense Department leadership that he will step down to take a job in the private sector, according to a Dec. 24 e-mail sent to colleagues that was obtained by Space News. NOAA spokesman John Leslie confirmed Stockton’s resignation. Stockton has been the program’s...