NASA to launch GOES-S weather satellite from Kennedy Space Center

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 was scheduled to launch the Hispasat 30W-6 communications satellite Sunday (Feb. 25) at 12:35 a.m. EST (0535 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. However, on Saturday, SpaceX decided they would need additional time to inspect the rocket’s payload fairing.

SpaceX representatives wrote on Twitter: “Standing down from this weekend’s launch attempt to conduct additional testing on the fairing’s pressurization system. Once complete, and pending range availability, we will confirm a new targeted launch date.”

On March 16, 2016, an Atlas V rocket’s engines roar to life. Someday, we will see rockets that are powered without propellants, maybe.

NASA

Now, with a two-hour launch window set for Thursday for ULA’s launch of the Atlas 5, SpaceX has a very short time to complete their fairing checks or will have to wait for another launch date next week.

“The launch will take place as soon as the incident is resolved and the launch window with the greatest chances of success is available,” Hispasat, the satellite communications company that owns the Hispasat 30W-6 satellite, said in a statement.

It’s 80 percent “GO’ for Atlas 5 on Thursday
Florida Today is reporting the Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron expects 80 percent “go” conditions at Launch Complex 41 during a two-hour window that opens at 5:02 p.m. Eastern Time to launch the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) newest weather satellite.

The Centaur upper stage that will help launch NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S, or GOES-S, arrives at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.

NASA

The Atlas 5, with its payload, will be rolled out to the pad from ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility, or VIF, on Wednesday. When the Atlas 5 launches, it will fly in the “541” configuration with four solid rocket boosters and a five-meter (17-foot) diameter fairing.

The Atlas 5 first stage is powered by a Russian-made RD-180 engine. There are four strap-on Aerojet Rocketdyne solid rocket boosters, along with the Atlas 5’s hydrogen-fueled Centaur upper stage.

The new member of the GOES Constellation
The GOES-S weather satellite is the second member of a new generation of geostationary weather satellites in the GOES constellation and will be joining GOES-16, formerly known as GOES-R, which launched on Nov. 19, 2016.

GOES-S being prepared to be encapsulated before being transported and mounted atop the Atlas V rocket that will send it to space.

NOAA

Once GOES-S reaches orbit, it will be renamed GOES-17 and undergo non-operational testing for a period of time to calibrate the instruments before becoming fully operational.

After about seven months of testing, the GOES-17 will be turned over to NOAA. The two GOES satellites will cover the Atlantic and Pacific oceans along with North and South America. One big difference in the Goes-S and its sister-satellite is the GOES-S final orbit.

In its final orbital position, GOES-S will be positioned over the eastern Pacific Ocean in the GOES-WEST position. This will allow the satellite to see parts of the world not in view from GOES-16, which is in the GOES-EAST position.

Category 5 Hurricane Irma as seen by GOES-16 (left) and GOES-13 (right), captured on the morning of September 5, 2017. It is clear the resolution on the left from GOES-16 is far better than that of GOES-13.

NOAA

“GOES-S will provide high-resolution imagery of the western U.S. and eastern Pacific Ocean completing our satellite coverage to further improve weather forecasts across the entire country,” said Louis W. Uccellini, Ph.D., director of NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS).

With GOES-16 in the east and GOES-S in the west, meteorologists will have high-resolution weather information for a large area of the globe, stretching from western Africa to the shores of New Zealand.

In the GOES-WEST position, 137 degrees West, GOES-17 will be able to cover a region including much of North and South America, the Pacific Ocean, and New Zealand.

In the GOES-EAST position, 75 degrees West, GOES-16 covered a region including the Western Coast of Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, and North and South America.

NOAA

There are a few more next-generation GOES satellites that will be launched over the next few years. GOES-16 and GOES-S will be joined by two more satellites, while GOES-T, the next of the generations of geostationary weather satellites, is scheduled to be launched in 2020 and will be renamed GOES-18 once reaching orbit.

GOES-T will be put into orbital storage to be used when needed. The family of satellites will be rounded out by GOES-U, which is currently slated to launch in 2024, according to AccuWeather.