GOES-18 is the new next-generation weather satellite from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It was successfully launched from American soil on an Atlas rocket and is now part of the NOAA geostationary satellites. Its goal is to provide critical data to improve weather forecasting and monitoring of storms, tropical cyclones and other adverse systems.
Launched on March 1, 2022 from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, it was launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41. That same day, mission managers confirmed that its solar panels were successfully deployed and that it was already operating on its own power.
“We at NASA are honored to continue working with NOAA on this strategic and successful partnership,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, after the launch. “In addition to our work developing and launching spacecraft, NASA-supported science teams look forward to analyzing the valuable data that GOES-T will provide .”
The satellite operates in geostationary orbit 35,785 kilometers above Earth.
Why is it called GOES-18?
“GOES satellites are designated by a letter before launch and a number once they reach geostationary orbit,” the NOAA researchers said.
A few days ago, on May 11, NOAA scientists shared this impressive image of the Earth’s western hemisphere captured by the satellite’s Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument. And that GOES-18 is currently undergoing testing, validation and calibration of its instruments and systems to prepare it for operations, just as the impressive James Webb telescope is doing.
According to experts, GOES-18 will assist GOES-17 with GOES West operations in the summer of 2022 and again in the early fall. The goal is for this geostationary satellite to replace GOES-17 in early 2023.
Reference: NOAA
