GOES-U Weather Satellite Successfully Launches

Mission Success! The GOES-U Satellite had a successful launch aboard SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket Tuesday, June 25th. The two-hour launch window opened at 5:16 PM ET, and with a 10 minute weather delay, liftoff occurred at 5:26 PM ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

This is the fourth and final satellite to launch in NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R (GOES-R) series. The launch team confirmed the satellite’s solar array panels have deployed, and GOES-U is operating under its own power.  

After about two weeks, GOES-U will reach orbit more than 22 thousand miles above Earth and will be renamed GOES-19. It will then take about a year to test and confirm instrumentation before shifting to the GOES-East position and replacing GOES-16 over the eastern half of the United States. GOES-16 will remain a backup satellite.  Together with GOES-18 over the western U.S., the two satellites will cover half the planet: from the west coast of Africa to New Zealand. They will provide real-time updates of weather and atmospheric conditions in as little as 30 seconds.  

Technology onboard GOES-U will gather data for hurricane track and intensity forecasts, early warning of severe storms, fire detection, sea surface conditions and much more. It has the same six instruments as the previous four GOES satellites but one new instrument too. GOES-U is equipped with the first operational compact coronagraph to help detect space weather and aid in early warnings for Earth impacts.  

1. Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI):  Primary on-board instrument for monitoring Earth's weather, ocean, and environment.  

2. Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM): operational lightning mapper to help with lightning detection and intensification of storms  

3. X-ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS): provide imaging of the sun and detection of solar flares 

4. Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) 

5. The Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS)  

6. Magnetometer 

7. Compact Coronograph (NEW): will help detect coronal mass ejections and forecasters at the Space Weather Center with space weather impacts to Earth, it works by creating a total solar eclipse (as viewed by the chronograph) to observe the Sun's outer atmosphere.

All Satellites were built for a 10-year operational capability with additional time for “backup” operations, carrying us into the 2030s. NOAA and NASA are already in development of the next satellite series, GeoXO, Geostationary Extended Observations. The GeoXO project will “provide new and improved observations of the atmosphere, weather and ocean to help address emerging environmental issues, respond to the effects of Earth’s changing climate, and improve forecasting and warning of severe weather and hazards” according to NOAA.