NOAA's GOES-T, the third in the GOES-R Series of advanced weather observing and environmental monitoring satellites, arrived in Florida on November 10, 2021, to begin final preparations for launch.

GOES-T is scheduled to launch aboard an Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida on March 1, 2022, joining its sister satellite, GOES-16.

Data from GOES-T will help meteorologists see the big picture as well as read the fine print, providing critical real-time information before, during, and after severe weather and disasters strike.

GOES-T was transported from Littleton, Colorado, to a clean room at the Astrotech Space Operations processing facility in Titusville, Florida, where it was unpacked from its journey.

Upon reaching geostationary orbit after launch, GOES-T will be renamed GOES-18. After it completes checkout of its instruments and systems, the new satellite will go into operation as GOES West, replacing the current GOES-17. In the GOES West position, GOES-18 will watch over the U.S. West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and the Pacific Ocean extending to New Zealand.

The satellite will be ideally located to detect and monitor weather systems and environmental hazards that most affect this region of the Western Hemisphere, including wildfires, atmospheric rivers, coastal fog, dust storms, and volcanic eruptions. GOES-18 will also monitor the sun for solar eruptions and detect space weather hazards that can disrupt communications, navigation systems, and power utilities on Earth.

NOAA oversees the GOES-R Series Program through an integrated NOAA-NASA office, operating the satellites, managing the ground system, and distributing the satellite data to users worldwide. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center oversees the acquisition of the GOES-R spacecraft and instruments and NASA's Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center, launches the satellites. Lockheed Martin designs, builds, and tests the GOES-R Series satellites. L3Harris Technologies provides the main instrument payload, the Advanced Baseline Imager, along with the ground system, which includes the antenna system for data reception.

Related Links
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Earth Observation News - Suppiliers, Technology and Application

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

China's land-observing satellite starts to take pictures
Beijing (XNA) Feb 15, 2022
A Chinese remote-sensing satellite started to take pictures in its orbit, scientists in charge of the satellite said Friday. China launched a Long March-4C rocket to place the L-SAR 01A satellite in space on Jan. 26. The satellite, equipped with L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR), can monitor the geological environment, landslides, and earthquakes. The radar is now capable of taking quality pictures from space, according to the Aerospace Information Research Institute under the Chinese Ac ... read more