WASHINGTON —

The first version of a sensor that has be

en a trouble spot in the U.S. effort to field a new generation of polar-orbiting weather satellites could end up flying with some of its capabilities impaired.

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Warren Ferster is the Editor-in-Chief of SpaceNews and is responsible for all the news and editorial coverage in the weekly newspaper, the spacenews.com Web site and variety of specialty publications such as show dailies. He manages a staff of seven reporters...