Author: Steven Siceloff

The countdown has resumed as scheduled for the GOES-R launch today. Engineers are beginning the preparations to load cryogenic propellants into the Atlas V rocket.

The launch team completed its polls confirming they are reading to begin loading supercold propellants – known as cryogenics – into the Atlas V rocket and its Centaur upper stage. The countdown is in a planned hold at T-2 hours, but everything is on schedule for liftoff at 5:42 p.m. EST. The launch window extends for one hour today to begin the GOES-R mission.

With less than three hours before the liftoff of the Atlas V rocket carrying the GOES-R satellite into orbit, the launch teams at Cape Canaveral, Florida, are working through a detailed timeline of tasks and checks to make everything goes smoothly. Today’s weather forecast improved to a 100 percent chance of acceptable conditions for launch. Liftoff remains on schedule for 5:42 p.m. EST.

Space Launch Complex 41 will be cleared shortly and the teams will perform steps to prepare to load the two-stage rocket with its cryogenic propellants. The first stage burns refined kerosene and liquid oxygen while the Centaur stage uses all-supercold propellants: liquid hydrogen fuel with liquid oxygen. The liquid oxygen is pumped into the rocket at minus-297 degrees, while the liquid hydrogen measures minus-423 degrees. The countdown, currently at T-2 hours, six minutes and counting, will enter a planned hold at the T-2 hour point.

Good afternoon from Florida’s Space Coast! It is launch day for NOAA’s GOES-R satellite, the most sophisticated meteorological spacecraft of its kind, and the launch teams are proceeding toward an on-time liftoff at 5:42 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 41. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will launch the GOES-R satellite into geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles above Earth. From there, the satellite will use its sensors to continuously track weather conditions, keep a watch on storms and even produce real-time maps of lightning activity.

You can keep track of the countdown, launch and ascent activities thoughout the afternoon and eveing here. NASA TV will cover the launch starting with a simulcast of a special prelaunch program carried by NASA EDGE starting at 3:45 p.m. on the NASA TV Media Channel. The program is live and featured on the NASA web and social media sites.

NASA TV’s launch coverage and commentary will be carried only on the NASA TV Media Channel beginning at 4:45 p.m. Following Soyuz docking coverage at about 5:06 p.m., launch coverage will switch to the NASA TV Public Channel. Coverage will conclude after spacecraft separation from the Centaur and the GOES-R solar arrays are deployed, which occurs about 3 ½ hours after launch. At that time the spacecraft initial state of health can be determined and will be confirmed on the air. There is no planned post-launch news conference. YOu can go to NASA TV’s coverage on the Web at https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and its GOES-R payload were moved to the pad today as preparations continue for Saturday’s launch from Space Launch Complex 41.

The Atlas V is in its 541 configuration, which means it has the 5-meter-diameter payload fairing, four solid-fueled boosters and the Centaur upper stage is equipped with a single engine. Liftoff remains on schedule for 5:42 p.m. EST tomorrow.

Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket has been rolled to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 and everything is progressing toward the launch of NOAA’s GOES-R spacecraft on Saturday at 5:42 p.m. EST.

Weather forecasters from the Air Force 45th Weather Squadron continue to call for a 90 percent chance of favorable weather for the one-hour launch window. For a closer look at the mission, watch the GOES-R webcast below.

GOES-R, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration mission, is the first spacecraft in a new series of NASA-built advanced geostationary weather satellites. Once in geostationary orbit, GOES-R will be known as GOES-16 and will provide images of weather patterns and severe storms as regularly as every five minutes or as frequently as every 30 seconds. These images can be used to aid in weather forecasts, severe weather outlooks, watches and warnings, lightning conditions, maritime forecasts and aviation forecasts. It also will assist in longer term forecasting, such as in seasonal predictions and drought outlooks. In addition, space weather conditions will be monitored constantly, including the effects of solar flares to provide advance notice of potential communication and navigation disruptions. It also will assist researchers in understanding the interactions between land, oceans, the atmosphere and climate.

Take an in-depth look at the upcoming mission of NOAA’s GOES-R and the help it will provide to weather forecasters as they track everything from daily conditions to large hurricanes and other storms. The GOES-R spacecraft carries sensors far more advanced than those used now. Launch is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 19, at 5:42 p.m. EST. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will lift the GOES-R satellite to an orbit more than 22,000 miles above Earth. From there, it will cast an unblinking eye on our planet.

At the conclusion of a flight readiness review at Kennedy Space Center in Florida Tuesday, senior NASA and contractor managers voted unanimously to proceed with processing toward the targeted launch of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite – R Series, or GOES-R, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at 5:42 p.m. EST on Saturday, Nov. 19. A final “go” decision will be made at the GOES-R Launch Readiness Review on Thursday.

Weather forecasters from the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron are predicting an 80 percent chance of favorable weather for the one-hour launch window Saturday at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

GOES-R is the first spacecraft in a new series of NASA-built advanced geostationary weather satellites. Once in geostationary orbit, GOES-R will be known as GOES-16 and will provide images of weather patterns and severe storms as regularly as every five minutes or as frequently as every 30 seconds. These images can be used to aid in weather forecasts, severe weather outlooks, watches and warnings, lightning conditions, maritime forecasts and aviation forecasts. It also will assist in longer term forecasting, such as in seasonal predictions and drought outlooks. In addition, space weather conditions will be monitored constantly, including the effects of solar flares to provide advance notice of potential communication and navigation disruptions. It also will assist researchers in understanding the interactions between land, oceans, the atmosphere and climate. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky