GOES is NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite program that provides continuous imagery and data on atmospheric conditions and solar activity (space weather). Since its inception in 1975, the satellites and their suite of sensors have enhanced meteorological forecasting capabilities, improved long-term climate monitoring, and assisted with search and rescue operations. The GOES series is a joint NOAA-NASA program with NASA building and launching the satellites, and NOAA operating them.

The GOES-R Series is NOAA’s most advanced meteorological satellite system. The GOES-R satellites are designed to operate for a period of at least 14 years (design life) providing a remote sensing capability to acquire and disseminate regional environmental imagery and specialized meteorological, climatological, terrestrial, oceanographic and solar-geophysical data to central processing centers and distributed direct users.

When the GOES-R series is fully deployed, it will provide full hemispheric coverage of Earth’s weather systems including areas of polar and tropical circulation. It will also provide significantly reduced latency for the timely dissemination of critical meteorological information.

GOES-R-18 is set to launch in the next few weeks from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. However, a minor issue on the ULA Atlas V booster that will be used for the launch has postponed the mission. The team is working toward a resolution.

Once GOES-R-18 is in geostationary orbit, it will be renamed GOES West. Once it begins its operational mission, the satellite will provide continuous coverage of the Western Hemisphere from a spot 22,236 miles above Earth.

Unlike the first GOES satellites that were spin-stabilized and only viewed Earth about ten percent of the time, the second generation of satellites, which launched in the mid-1980s, offered meteorologists a more complete view of atmospheric conditions by tracking rapidly developing weather events. The new satellites had a Visible/Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) that provided day and night imagery of cloud and surface temperatures, along with heights and wind fields.

These satellites also included the Enhanced Polarization Scattering (EPS) and High Energy Proton Alpha-Deuteron (HEPAD) instruments, which allow scientists to monitor the very high energy protons and alpha particles of large solar flares and the continuous monitoring of galactic cosmic rays. EPS and HEPAD have proven to be valuable tools for improving storm forecasting by increasing data availability, especially for severe thunderstorms.

Aerospace’s Renee Dudley, Systems Director supporting the GOES/GeoXO Program Office, was recently named NOAA’s Team Member of the Month for her role in overseeing the Naval Research Laboratory’s development of the Compact Coronagraph (CCOR) on GOES-19. CCOR is the first-ever coronagraph on a NOAA GOES satellite, enabling operators to detect and track dangerous space weather conditions that can impact Earth and space assets.

Aerospace has supported the GOES/GeoXO program from its inception. Its engineers and scientists have contributed to spacecraft architecture design, ground system architecture, satellite operations, and sensor support. In addition, the company’s GOES-R program support specialists have worked with NOAA’s Operations and Engineering stakeholders to ensure space-to-ground communications work seamlessly for the mission. This commitment has resulted in a record level of performance and mission success.