Today is launch day for NOAA’s newest weather satellite, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S). A two-hour launch window will open at 5:02 p.m. EST today. GOES-S will launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Stay tuned — launch coverage will begin at 4:30 p.m.
With its March 1 launch date closing in, the next in a series of advanced geostationary weather satellites is in place for liftoff.
NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-S) will be delivered to orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
With the Atlas V booster already in place, teams recently attached four solid rocket boosters and lifted the Centaur upper stage into place. Finally, the GOES-S satellite, secured inside the Atlas V payload fairing, moved from its processing location at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville to the launch complex, where it was carefully raised into position atop the assembled rocket.
GOES-S is the second in NOAA’s GOES-R series of satellites. All are designed to significantly improve the detection and observation of environmental phenomena that directly affect public safety, protection of property and the nation’s economic health and prosperity.
The Centaur upper stage, part of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket that will help launch NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S, is in place for prelaunch processing. The Centaur arrived at the Delta Operations Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Jan. 24, two days after its delivery by ship to nearby Port Canaveral.
GOES-S is the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites. The GOES-R series – consisting of the GOES-R, GOES-S, GOES-T and GOES-U spacecraft – will significantly improve the detection and observation of environmental phenomena that directly affect public safety, protection of property and the nation’s economic health and prosperity. GOES-S is slated to launch aboard the Atlas V rocket March 1.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster and Centaur stage for NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) arrived this week at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The Mariner transport ship delivered the components to the Army Wharf at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Atlas V booster was moved to the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center near Space Launch Complex 41; the Centaur was taken to the Delta Operations Center.
GOES-S is the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites. The satellite is slated to launch aboard the Atlas V rocket March 1.
Technicians and engineers at the Astrotech Space Operations payload processing facility have placed NOAA’s GOES-S satellite on a work stand to begin routine but critical preflight inspections, tests and checkouts. These processing milestones will ensure the spacecraft is ready to withstand the rigors of launch and take its place as the second in a new generation of advanced geostationary weather satellites.
The satellite arrived Dec. 4 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard a U.S. Air Force C-5M Super Galaxy cargo transport aircraft and was offloaded the following morning (right). It was then transported to the Astrotech facility, located in nearby Titusville, Florida, to begin processing. Inside the Astrotech high bay, team members carefully removed the shipping container, inspected the satellite (below) and placed it into a workstand (above) for prelaunch work to begin.
The next satellite in line to join NOAA’s environment-monitoring network is one significant step closer to launch following its delivery Monday to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) arrived at the Florida spaceport aboard a U.S. Air Force C-5M Super Galaxy cargo transport aircraft which touched down on Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility runway Monday evening. The satellite will be offloaded today and transported to the Astrotech payload processing facility in nearby Titusville, where it will spend the next several weeks undergoing final preparations, tests and checkouts for liftoff.
Launch is planned for March 1, 2018 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41.
The Geostationary Operation Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites. The GOES-R Series – consisting of the GOES-R, GOES-S, GOES-T and GOES-U spacecraft – significantly improves the detection and observation of environmental phenomena that directly affect public safety, protection of property and our nation’s economic health and prosperity.
The satellites provide advanced imaging with increased spatial resolution and faster coverage for more accurate forecasts, real-time mapping of lightning activity, and improved monitoring of solar activity and space weather. The GOES-R Series will extend the availability of the operational GOES satellite system through 2036.
GOES-S is slated to launch March 1, 2018 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
