NOAA's GOES-U satellite launches aboard a Space X Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A at 5:26 p.m. EDT on June 25, 2024. (Image credit: Amber Jean Notvest/NASA)
GOES-U, the latest of NOAA’s four advanced geostationary satellites, soared into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at 5:26 p.m. EDT from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The launch team confirmed the satellite’s solar array panels have deployed, and GOES-U is operating under its own power.
After approximately two weeks, GOES-U will reach geostationary orbit at 22,236 miles above Earth and will be renamed GOES-19. Following a thorough checkout and validation of its instruments, the new satellite will shift to the GOES-East position and replace GOES-16 in the mid-2025 time frame.
“GOES-U will combine high definition with advanced speed and precision to the real-time observations it will capture, which will help improve the accuracy and timeliness of our weather forecasts,” said NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D. “Also, this satellite will ensure these critical data are available to NOAA forecasters into the 2030s.”