The final NOAA satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R series of weather satellites, GOES-U, is heading into space.
The two-hour start window opens at 5:16 PM EDT (2116 GMT) on June 25 and the mission will aim for the stars on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A on NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s legendary Space Coast.
If you are in or around Cape Canaveral, there are many places where you can watch the rocket soar into the sky. Florida’s Space Coast Tourism Bureau has compiled a map and list of launch viewing locations including beaches, parks and restaurants surrounding the Kennedy Space Center where you can camp. Don’t want to leave the house or travel to Florida? Thanks to NASA, you can watch the launch live right here on Space.com. Coverage begins at 9:30 AM EDT (1330 GMT).
“Every launch is worth watching, it’s something fun and exciting,” Rex Engelhardt, GOES-U Mission Manager for NASA’s Launch Services Program, told Space.com. “It’s kind of a show and it’s over quickly. With the booster return you get, it’s fun – you can stretch it out a bit.”
Related: The GOES-U satellite will take a ride into space on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket
The first launch of the series, GOES-R, was in 2016, followed by GOES-S and GOES-T in 2018 and 2022 respectively. But compared to its three predecessors in the series, GOES-U will be the shining star in the constellation .
GOES-U will not only have all the bells and whistles like its siblings – with instruments that provide state-of-the-art advanced imaging, taking atmospheric measurements of Earth’s weather, oceans and environment, as well as real-time mapping total lightning activity – but GOES-U will also make improvements to each component based on the adjustments NOAA deemed necessary from the earlier trio.
“Our five-decade partnership with NOAA has resulted in the successful operation of more than 60 satellites dedicated to weather forecasting, severe storm and hurricane forecasting, and climate observations. We are very excited to complete the four GOES-R satellite series with the most capable geostationary weather satellites in our nation’s history,” said John Gagosian, director of NASA’s Joint Agency Satellite Division, in a virtual media briefing last month. “I am proud that NOAA and NASA have worked so well together over the life of the GOES-R program. We are poised for a very strong finish.”
The successor to NOAA’s GOES-R series will be the Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite system, which is expected to start in early 2030.