But that uninterrupted record could be coming to an end within the next few years. The DMSP satellites currently in orbit are getting to the end of their lifespans - F17 being the most recent evidence of this - and there are no immediate plans to launch any more of them. Without another similarly equipped satellite to take over, scientists like Meier will be forced to switch to new, and potentially lower quality, data sources, interrupting decades-long continuous climate records in the process.