Category: GOES-S

The rocket standing on the pad at Space Launch Complex 41 is an Atlas V 541 configuration, one of the most powerful rockets in the Atlas V fleet. The 541 designation means this rocket has a payload fairing, or nose cone, that is approximately five meters wide, four solid-rocket boosters fastened alongside the central common core booster, and a single engine on its Centaur upper stage. Booster propulsion is provided by the RD-180 engine system, a single engine with two thrust chambers. The RD-180 burns Rocket Propellant-1 (RP-1), a highly purified kerosene, along with liquid oxygen. Four solid rocket boosters generate the additional power required at liftoff, each providing 348,500 pounds of thrust.

The booster is controlled by the Centaur second stage avionics system, which provides guidance, flight control and vehicle sequencing functions during the booster and Centaur phases of flight. An Atlas V 541 rocket launched NASA’s Curiosity rover Nov. 26, 2011 on its 10-month, 354-million-mile journey to the surface of Mars. The single-engine Centaur upper stage is a cryogenic vehicle, fueled with liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. The two-piece payload fairing that protects the GOES-S satellite tops the vehicle.

The latest weather update from meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing is now at a 90 percent chance of favorable weather today for liftoff of the Atlas V rocket with NOAA’s GOES-S satellite. The rocket is slated to liftoff at 5:02 p.m. EST.

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.

The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is rolled from the Vertical Integration Facility to the pad at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch vehicle will send NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-S) into orbit. The GOES series is 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. GOES-S is slated to lift off atop the Atlas V rocket March 1 at 5:02 p.m. EST.

Meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing are predicting an 80 percent chance of favorable weather for liftoff of the Atlas V rocket. On launch day, the primary weather concern is cumulus clouds and strengthening ground winds.

Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Watch the live webcast with NASA Edge during the GOES-S launch vehicle rollout at SLC-41. The live show begins at 10 a.m. and can be viewed on NASA TV and social media at:
NASA TV: www.nasa.gov/live

NASA EDGE Facebook: www.facebook.com/nasaedgefan

NASA EDGE YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/NASAedge

NASA EDGE Ustream: www.ustream.tv/nasaedge

Guests on the show:
Sandra Smalley, director, Joint Agency Satellite Division, NASA Headquarters
Mike Stringer, GOES-R assistant system program director, NOAA
Ed Grigsby, GOES-R deputy system program director, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Pam Sullivan, GOES-R flight project manager, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Mic Woltman, chief, Fleet Systems Integration Branch, Launch Services Program, Kennedy Space Center

Watch the GOES-S NASA Social Briefing live on NASA TV at 11 a.m. at https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive.
Briefing Participants:
Tim Walsh, GOES-R System Program Director
Pam Sullivan, Flight Director, GOES-R
AJ Sandora, Lockheed Martin GOES-R Series Mechanical Operations ATLO Manager
Mic Woltman, Chief – Fleet Systems Integration Branch, Launch Services Program
Gabriel Rodriguez-Mena, Systems Test Engineer, United Launch Alliance
Joe Pica, Director, Office of Observations, NOAA’s National Weather Service

GOES-S Countdown to T-Zero, Episode 3: Rocket Science
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket reaches another major milestone on the road to T-Zero, as NOAA’s GOES-S spacecraft prepares for launch. Stacking the rocket begins with the booster – the largest component – and continues with the addition of four solid rocket motors and the Centaur upper stage. GOES-S, the next in a series of advanced weather satellites, is slated to launch aboard the Atlas V from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Visit https://youtu.be/gWC9WTQ2Blc

With only two days remaining until the scheduled launch of NOAA’s GOES-S satellite, launch and mission managers are gathering at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to provide briefings on launch status and the science aspects of the GOES-R series of advanced weather satellites. A prelaunch status briefing will be held at 1 p.m., followed by a science briefing at 2:30 p.m. Both briefings will be held at Kennedy’s Press Site TV Auditorium and air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Prelaunch news conference participants are:

• Stephen Volz, director for satellite and information services, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• Tim Walsh, GOES-R system program director (acting), NOAA
• Sandra Smalley, director, Joint Agency Satellite Division, NASA Headquarters
• Tim Dunn, launch director, NASA, Kennedy Space Center
• Scott Messer, program manager, NASA Programs, United Launch Alliance
• Kathy Winters, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station

Science briefing participants are:

• Dan Lindsey, GOES-R senior scientific advisor, NOAA
• Louis Uccellini, director, National Weather Service, NOAA
• George Morrow, deputy director, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Jim Roberts, scientist, Earth System Research Laboratory, Office of Atmospheric Research, NOAA
• Kristin Calhoun, research scientist, National Severe Storms Laboratory, NOAA

Meteorologists with the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing are predicting an 80 percent chance of favorable weather for liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NOAA’s GOES-S satellite. Launch is scheduled for March 1 at 5:02 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. On launch day, the primary weather concern is cumulus clouds.

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.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V first stage was lifted by crane into the Vertical Integration Facility on Jan. 31, 2018, at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rocket will be positioned on its launcher to boost NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-S).

The satellite is the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites that will significantly improve the detection and observation of environmental phenomena that directly affect public safety. GOES-S is slated to launch March 1, 2018, aboard the Atlas V rocket.

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.