- The satellite is the latest in the GOES series.
- It will replace the current GOES East.
- GOES satellites are critical for weather forecasting, including hurricanes and severe weather.
This is about to become a powerful new weapon in weather forecasting.
NOAA’s newest hurricane-spotting and weather-tracking satellite will launch today atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The satellite is the latest iteration in the GOES series, or Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, operated by NOAA. This will eventually replace the current GOES-East, which monitors the eastern half of the US and is especially crucial during hurricane season and severe weather outbreaks.
Two operational GOES satellites are in constant orbit 35,000 kilometers above us, monitoring weather both on Earth and in space, with an additional satellite available in case one of the other two malfunctions .
“These satellites watch virtually everything that happens, whether it’s a routine rainstorm to things like volcanic eruptions, fires, smoke from fires, they really see everything that happens on Earth,” said GOES program director Pam Sullivan at a meeting in New York. recent media day at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida, where the finishing touches were put on the satellite.
GOES satellites also keep a close eye on space weather and the sun.
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The launch is scheduled for a two-hour period beginning at 5:26 PM EDT. It is also notable because two of the Falcon Heavy’s boosters are returning to land. Falcon Heavy launches and dual booster landings are both rare treats for space fans.
Maybe it could be a problem again. The US Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron had a 60% lead before launch, citing concerns about lightning and clouds.
Keep an eye on our backyard
This image from the GOES East satellite shows Hurricane Ian approaching Florida in September 2022.
(NOAA)
The satellite, called GOES-U until it is officially operational, is the last of a new generation launched in 2016. The entire replacement program cost more than $10 billion and spanned 30 years from start to finish, NASA said.
In all, there have been five generations of GOES satellites since the first launch in 1975, Sullivan said. Each of them gave meteorologists an increasingly better view of the Earth.
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Current GOES capabilities include the ability to zoom in on any spot on Earth in real time, helping forecasters know when to issue things like tornado warnings or flash flood warnings.
“It’s the only device that provides 24/7 coverage of the entire Western Hemisphere,” said Will Ullrich, warning meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Melbourne, Florida. “And so we can see everything that’s happening in our backyard.”
GOES images are also familiar to anyone who watches the weather.
“If you look at Western Hemisphere satellites through our app, from your local news or online, it is very likely that you will see data from the GOES East satellite,” said Weather.com digital meteorologist Jonathan Belles.
GOES satellites also collect long-term data that help monitor climate change and other trends.
What’s new and what’s next?
GOES-U on display at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Florida, on June 4, 2024
(Jan Childs/weer.com)
The new series of GOES satellites can scan the Earth five times faster than current versions, and with four times higher resolution, NASA said. It can take images of any weather on Earth every 30 seconds.
That will improve forecasts for everything from everyday weather to hurricanes.
“It has a lightning mapper in it, which can actually see when lightning is forming in the eyewall. That can tell forecasters if the storm might be getting stronger. And then the imager also tracks wind patterns, so it can see what could happen.” sending that hurricane. It can tell when it’s getting more intense,” Sullivan said.
“It can really tell everything about the storm.”
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The instruments on board the new satellite include a special camera designed to observe the Sun and watch for coronal mass ejections, which can disrupt the power grid, GPS radio signals and communications infrastructure.
“The new GOES East will be the first spacecraft to carry an operational coronagraph, which will bring the first operational and near real-time images of the Sun’s corona back to Earth,” said Belles. “This feature will replace a research-only image sensor that produces solar storm images only once every eight hours.”
The current GOES East will remain in orbit and act as a backup in case something happens to one of the others.
In the meantime, the next generation of GOES satellites is already under development. The first is currently scheduled for launch in 2032.
What new technology will it bring us?
“The fact is, there are things I can’t even dream of,” Ullrich said.
Weather.com reporter Jan Kinds covers the latest news and articles related to weather, space, climate change, the environment and everything in between.