NASA successfully launched the third in a series of next-generation weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) at 4:38 p.m. EST Tuesday. The newest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-T, launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
GOES-T mission managers confirmed at 8:28 p.m. the spacecraft’s solar arrays successfully deployed and the spacecraft was operating on its own power.
“We at NASA are proud to support our joint agency partner, NOAA, and their mission to provide critical data and imagery to forecasters and researchers tracking hazardous weather,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “While the GOES-R series satellites’ main job is to help with weather prediction, these satellites produce observations that also help with NASA science. Our agencies’ collaboration brings great benefits toward understanding our planet.”
The satellite will provide continuous coverage of weather and hazardous environmental conditions in the Western Hemisphere. The GOES program also predicts space weather near Earth that can interfere with satellite electronics, GPS, and radio communications.
Read more at NASA
Image: A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket, carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-T (GOES-T), lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on March 1, 2022.
(Credits: NASA/Kim Shiflett)