![]() Artistic rendering of GOES-U once deployed | |
Names | Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U |
---|---|
Mission type | Earth weather forecasting |
Operator | NOAA |
COSPAR ID | 2024-119A |
SATCAT no. | 60133
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Mission duration | 15 years (planned) 3 days, 20 hours, 1 minute (in progress) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Bus | A2100 |
Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin |
Launch mass | 5,000 kg (11,023 lb) |
Dry mass | 2,925 kg (6,449 lb) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 25 June 2024 5:26pm EDT (21:26 GMT) [1] |
Rocket | Falcon Heavy |
Launch site | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A |
Contractor | SpaceX |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
Regime | Geostationary orbit |
Epoch | Spring 2025 (planned) |
![]() GOES-U mission insignia |
GOES-U is a weather satellite, the fourth and last of the GOES-R series of satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The GOES-R series will extend the availability of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system until 2036. The satellite is built by Lockheed Martin, based on the A2100 platform. [2] [3]
The satellite was successfully launched into space atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on 25 June 2024 at 5:26pm EDT (21:26 GMT), [1] from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, United States. The redesign of the loop heat pipe to prevent an anomaly, as seen in GOES-17, is not expected to delay the launch as it did with GOES-T. [4]
GOES-U also carries a copy of the Naval Research Laboratory's Compact CORonagraph (CCOR) instrument which, along with the CCOR planned for Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1), will allow continued monitoring of solar wind after the retirement of the NASA- ESA SOHO satellite in 2025. [5] [6]
GOES-U has a dry mass of 2,925 kg (6,449 lb) and a fueled mass of 5,000 kg (11,023 lb). [7]