United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas V rocket has deployed an advanced weather satellite for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Thursday. The mission to deploy the GOES-S satellite began with liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at the opening of a two-hour window at 17:02 Eastern Time (22:02 UTC).<\/p>\n
GOES-S is the second of four satellites making up the fifth generation of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) program, a series of spacecraft that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) uses to provide continuous monitoring of weather conditions in the United States and across the western hemisphere. At any time, the GOES constellation consists of two operational satellites in geostationary orbit, plus a number of spares.<\/p>\n
GOES complements NOAA\u2019s polar orbit satellites \u2013 such as the JPSS-1 satellite (since renamed NOAA-20) that launched last November. The Polar orbit satellites make brief passes over much of the Earth\u2019s surface, while from their geostationary orbits high above the equator, GOES spacecraft constantly observe the same disc of the planet. The two operational satellites are stationed at 75 and 137 degrees West \u2013 slots designated GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST respectively.<\/p>\n
The satellite occupying GOES-EAST is responsible for monitoring the eastern United States, the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. GOES-WEST covers the western regions of the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii and the Pacific Ocean. GOES-S, which will be renamed GOES 17 after it reaches geostationary orbit, is expected to replace the eight-year-old GOES 15 in the GOES-WEST slot towards the end of this year.<\/p>\n