A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX
The Falcon Heavy center core’s nine Merlin engines have reached cutoff, and the booster has separated from the second stage.
Coming up next, the Falcon Heavy’s second stage engine starts up. Following that, the protective payload fairings will be jettisoned revealing NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) to the vacuum of space for the first time as it makes its way to geosynchronous orbit.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:26 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission launched at 5:26 p.m. EDT, June 25 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A series of rapid events occurs after launch, one of the most important is Max Q – the moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket. After Max Q the Falcon Heavy’s dual side booster engines will cutoff and separate from the center core booster to begin their recovery journey for vertical landings at SpaceX Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Landing should occur about eight and a half minutes after liftoff.
Still to come is the center core’s main engine cutoff and separation from the Falcon Heavy’s second stage.
NASA will provide continuous mission coverage on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website until 6 p.m. NASA will then provide live updates at the top of every hour until approximately 10 p.m.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) stands vertical at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
Behind the iconic countdown clock at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) stands vertical at Launch Complex 39A at the spaceport in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA TelevisionCountdown to the 5:26 p.m. EDT liftoff of the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida continues as planned.
Moments ago, the “engine chill” process of conditioning the 27 main Merlin engines on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket got underway.
This conditioning process helps the engines avoid cold shock when the super-chilled liquid oxygen flows during launch.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) stands vertical at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
NASA’s launch manager has given a “go” for launch of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission.
In the next few moments, the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket’s 27 Merlin engines will roar to life at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, starting GOES-U’s journey to a geostationary orbit, about 22,236 miles above the equator.
NASA and SpaceX are targeting liftoff at 5:26 p.m. EDT.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
Behind the iconic countdown clock at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) stands vertical at Launch Complex 39A at the spaceport in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
Mission management teams have polled “go” to begin fueling the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket as the countdown continues toward the launch of NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Composed of a central core and dual side boosters, the two-stage SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is fueled with a refined kerosene, referred to as RP-1, and liquid oxygen. Combined, the 27 Merlin main engines generate five million pounds of thrust.
Falcon Heavy uses the same second stage and payload fairing as flown on SpaceX’s single-booster rocket variant, Falcon 9. The GOES-U satellite is the second mission for NASA’s Launch Services Program to launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, with NASA’s Psyche spacecraft, launched in October 2023, being the first.
The second stage fueling is slated to begin in about 20 minutes.
Launch officials are targeting 5:26 p.m. EDT for the new launch time of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) stands vertical at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA
NASA’s coverage is underway for launch of the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission.
NASA and SpaceX are targeting a two-hour launch window opening at 5:16 p.m. EDT. The weather satellite will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Launch weather officers with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron now predict a 60% chance of favorable weather conditions at the opening of the two-hour launch window, with chance of favorable conditions decreasing to 30% towards the latter part of the window.
The primary goal of GOES-U is to assist meteorologists with predicting, observing, and tracking hazardous weather events on Earth and in space. The GOES-U satellite is the final weather-observing and environmental monitoring satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R Series.
Artist’s rendering of NOAA’s GOES-U spacecraft in orbit. Credit: NOAA/Lockheed Martin
NASA and SpaceX teams continue to work toward a 5:16 p.m. EDT liftoff of NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Read a few facts about the spacecraft and its science instruments:
The GOES-U spacecraft stands about 20 feet tall and, when fully fueled, weighs in at nearly 11,000 pounds.
Once launched, GOES-U will complete a nearly two-week journey to its geostationary orbit, about 22,236 miles above the equator.
The GOES-U satellite is the last of the GOES-R Series satellites, which are planned to operate into the mid-2030s.
Onboard GOES-U is a suite of seven instruments for collecting advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements, providing real-time mapping of lightning activity, and detecting the approach of space weather hazards.
Also flying aboard, a first-ever compact coronagraph that will observe the Sun’s outermost layer, called the corona, for large explosions of plasma that could produce geomagnetic solar storms.
Meteorologists rely on data from NOAA’s satellites to issue accurate, timely, and reliable watches and warnings for local weather events that affect public safety like thunderstorms, hurricanes, wildfires, and solar storms.
The GOES-U satellite is the ninth overall mission NASA’s Launch Service Program will fly on a SpaceX rocket.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) stands vertical at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, June 24, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX
NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) have closely collaborated, dating back to 1975, to successfully deploy more than 60 weather satellites. The NOAA GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission is the culmination of a historic weather-observing and environmental monitoring system.
The NOAA GOES-R Series, which consists of three satellites – GOES-R, S, and T, soon to be joined by GOES-U – is the only system that provides persistent coverage of the Western Hemisphere.
Data from the environmental monitoring satellite constellation enables forecasters to predict, observe, and track local weather events on Earth and in space that affect public safety like thunderstorms, hurricanes, wildfires, and solar storms.
The GOES-R Series Program is overseen by NOAA through an integrated NOAA-NASA office, managing the ground system, operating the satellites, and distributing their data to users worldwide.
NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, manages the launch service for the GOES-U mission. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland oversees the acquisition of the spacecraft and instruments. Lockheed Martin designs, builds, and tests the GOES-R series satellites. L3Harris Technologies provides the primary instrument, the Advanced Baseline Imager, along with the ground system, which includes the antenna system for data reception.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) moves from the hangar to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, June 24, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX
It’s launch day! NASA and SpaceX are targeting a two-hour launch window opening at 5:16 p.m. EDT for the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission. The weather satellite will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Launch weather officers with Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s 45th Weather Squadron predict a 30% chance of favorable weather conditions. The team will continue monitoring weather conditions throughout the day.
NASA will provide live launch coverage beginning at 4:15 p.m. EDT on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms including social media.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
