Satellite launch is one year and counting
With eyes to the future of improved weather forecasting, the team behind NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R Series will launch its first satellite, GOES-R, in October 2016.
(Image credit: NOAA)
GOES-R will be launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on board an Atlas V rocket into geosynchronous orbit where it will have a view of the Western Hemisphere from 22,000 miles above Earth. In this position, the satellite is poised to capture near-real-time observations of weather across the United States and the surrounding oceans.
The new observation capabilities that GOES-R will offer are in high demand. Once the satellite is on orbit, it will be operational throughout the typical checkout and validation phase. That means data will be available sooner for input into models and other tools used by NOAA’s National Weather Service meteorologists.
Want to know more about GOES-R? Here are the “Top 5 Reasons Why NOAA’s GOES-R Satellite Matters.”
For the latest developments and information about GOES-R visit www.goes-r.gov and follow NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service on Facebook and Twitter.
Go behind the scenes in this video. Find the latest images of the GOES-R satellite under construction in our Flickr gallery. (NOAA)
