GREENBELT, Md. — NASA is preparing for the launch of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-O (GOES-O) from Space Launch Complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The GOES-O launch is targeted for June 26 during a launch window from 6:14 to 7:14 p.m. EDT.
“Launching GOES-O will contribute the data needed for accurate NOAA forecasts for severe weather, including hurricanes that threaten at least 35 million Americans living in areas vulnerable to land-falling hurricanes,” stated Steve Kirkner, GOES program manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
GOES-O is the second spacecraft to be launched in the GOES N Series of geostationary environmental weather satellites. The GOES satellites continuously provide observations of 60 percent of the Earth including the continental United States, providing weather monitoring and forecast operations as well as a continuous and reliable stream of environmental information and severe weather warnings.
GOES-O joins a system of weather satellites that provide timely environmental information to meteorologists and the public. The GOES system provides data used to graphically display the intensity, path and size of storms. Early warning of impending severe weather enhances the public’s ability to take shelter and protect property.
GOES-O will be launched on board a United Launch Alliance Delta IV (4, 2) launch vehicle under an FAA commercial license contracted out through Boeing Launch Services. The satellite will be turned over to NASA after a successful checkout is completed by Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, El Segundo, Calif.
The current GOES operational system consists of GOES-12, operating as GOES East, and GOES-11, operating as GOES-West. GOES-13 is in an on-orbit storage mode nominally located at 105 west longitude. Once in orbit GOES-O will be designated GOES-14, checked out and then stored on-orbit and ready for activation should one of the operational GOES satellites degrade or exhaust their fuel.
NOAA manages the GOES program, establishes requirements, provides all funding and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States. NASA Goddard procures and manages the design, development and launch of the satellites for NOAA on a cost reimbursable basis. Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems built GOES-O.
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