Who: Boeing joins NASA, NOAA, United Launch Alliance, and the 45thth Space Wing
What: Boeing-built GOES-O satellite launch on a Delta IV rocket
Where: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
When: June 26, 6:14 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
June 22, 2009 — Boeing [NYSE: BA] announced that the commercial launch of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-O, (GOES-O) is scheduled for June 26 aboard a Delta IV rocket. The launch will take place from Space Launch Complex-37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., with a launch window extending from 6:14 to 7:14 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
Boeing Launch Services procured the launch vehicle and associated support services from United Launch Alliance. A Delta IVMedium+ (4,2) configuration launch vehicle is expected to deploy the GOES-O spacecraft approximately four hours and 21 minutes after liftoff. The GOES-O satellite manufactured by Boeing’s Space and Intelligence Systems for NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is set to receive signal acquisition an hour following separation.
GOES-O advances the mission of NOAA to understand and predict weather and climate change throughout the entire western hemisphere, delivering enhanced weather forecasting capability to protect life and property. The three-axis modified Boeing 601 body-stabilized spacecraft design enables the imager and sound instruments to “stare” at Earth and thus frequently image clouds, monitor Earth’s surface temperature, and sound Earth’s atmosphere for its vertical temperature and water vapor distribution. GOES-O also will support NOAA and NASA scientists by collecting and analyzing real-time space environmental data, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard searching the open seas.
Notes to Media:
Media photographers wishing to place remote cameras at the launch pad: Meet at the Space X parking lot by 8:00 a.m. EDT on June 26. U.S. Media attending ONLY launch day viewing: Media should arrive at the Kennedy Space Center Pass and ID Station (Gate 3) parking lot located on State Road 405 no later than 4:00 p.m. EDT on launch day.
On launch day, Friday, June 26, NASA TV countdown coverage will begin on the “media channel” at 4 p.m. and will conclude 30 minutes after liftoff.
Audio only of the launch coverage will be carried on the NASA “V” circuits which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220…1240…1260. On launch day, “Mission Audio,” the launch conductor’s countdown activities without NASA TV launch commentary, will be carried on 321-867-7135 starting at noon. In the continental United States, NASA Television is on AMC-6, Transponder 17C located at 72 degrees West longitude (4040.0 MHz video, 6.8 MHz audio, MPEG-2 digital signal). In Alaska and Hawaii, all events will be on AMC-7 Transponder 18 located at 137 degrees West longitude, (4060 MHz video, 6.8 MHz).
Prelaunch and launch day coverage of GOES-O mission will be available on the NASA Web site at: http://www.nasa.gov
Updated information is also available on the Boeing Launch Hotline (714) 896-4770. A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses specializing in innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions, and the world’s largest and most versatile manufacturer of military aircraft. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $32 billion business with 70,000 employees worldwide.
