WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off June 25 with the latest spacecraft in a series of geostationary weather satellites that also include several firsts.
The Falcon Heavy lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A at 5:26 PM Eastern, 10 minutes into a two-hour window, when launch controllers found favorable weather despite the previous day’s forecasts showing only a 30% chance of acceptable weather forecast.
The rocket’s payload, the GOES-U weather satellite, is expected to deploy from the Falcon Heavy’s second stage four and a half hours after launch, once the stage completes a series of three burns to place the satellite in a geostationary orbit.
GOES-U is the fourth and final satellite in the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) R series of satellites built by Lockheed Martin for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The spacecraft, which will be renamed GOES-19 in geostationary orbit, will be commissioned and then moved to 75 degrees east in GEO, taking over GOES-16’s position as the operational GOES-East satellite .
The satellite carries a suite of Earth and space science instruments similar to the three previous GOES-R satellites, but also includes the Compact Coronagraph instrument (CCOR) for observing the sun. CCOR will monitor the solar corona for outbursts and coronal mass ejections that affect space weather, and will take over from the nearly 30-year-old Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft.
Meteorologists say observations from the first three GOES-R weather satellites have significantly improved weather forecasts. “The GOES-R series of satellites has been a game changer for us,” said Ken Graham, director of the National Weather Service, during a June 24 pre-launch briefing. “Since the series first launched in 2016, the latest series of GOES has enabled new and improved forecasts, alerts and services to save lives and protect property.”
One of the new features in the GOES-R series is a lightning mapper. “For forecasters, I think it took a while to realize what it could do,” said Pam Sullivan, director of the GOES-R program at NOAA, during another briefing on June 24. She said the lightning data allows meteorologists to better understand the severity of a storm and issue warnings accordingly. “The most important thing I hear from forecasters is that they have more confidence in a forecast.”
NOAA is working on a new generation of geostationary weather satellites, called GeoXO, expected to launch in 2032. NASA, which supports NOAA in developing weather satellites, has awarded contracts to Lockheed Martin to build the satellites, and to BAE Systems (formerly Ball Aerospace) to build echo sounder and ocean color instruments for the spacecraft.
GOES-U “is the bridge that connects today’s geostationary satellite technology to tomorrow’s technology, which promises to be even more advanced and impactful,” said GeoXO’s Steve Volz, assistant administrator of NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service.
The launch also marked the first time NOAA launched a GOES weather satellite on a SpaceX rocket. The three previous GOES-R satellites were all launched on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rockets, but NASA awarded SpaceX a $152.5 million contract for a Falcon Heavy launch from GOES-U in September 2021. ULA withdrew its bid because it had no remaining Atlas missiles left. available.
An advantage of using the Falcon Heavy is the extra performance it offers. Julianna Scheiman, director of NASA science missions at SpaceX, said during a June 24 prelaunch briefing that the additional performance is measured in the form of the delta V, or change in velocity, that the spacecraft itself must provide to reach its final geostationary achieve job.
The mission requirements were for delta V of no more than 987 meters per second, while Falcon Heavy will place GOES-U into orbit at a delta V of 566 meters per second. “A smaller number means the spacecraft needs less energy to reach that orbit, allowing them to save that propellant,” she said.
These propellant savings translate into a longer operational life for GOES-U. The spacecraft has a 15-year design specification, NOAA’s Sullivan said. “With the additional capabilities that Falcon Heavy offers us, we expect a fuel life of more than twenty years.”
The launch was the 10e for the Falcon Heavy overall and the second contracted by NASA, after the Psyche asteroid mission launched in October 2023. Another Falcon Heavy will launch the Europa Clipper mission for NASA in October.