NOAAs GOES-U Reaches Geostationary Orbit, Now Designated GOES-19 – nesdis

NOAA expects to see the first images from GOES-19 in September. After completing post-launch check out, NASA will hand GOES-19 over to NOAA, which will validate the satellites data products and drift GOES-19 to its operational position at 75.2 degrees west longitude. NOAA plans for GOES-19 to take over as the operational GOES-East satellite in April 2025, replacing GOES-16. GOES-16 will become the on-orbit standby satellite.

GOES-19 will track severe storms, hurricanes, wildfires, lightning, fog and other hazards that threaten most of North America, including the contiguous United States, Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean. The satellite will also monitor solar activity and space weather to provide early warnings of disruptions to power grids, communications, and navigation systems. Onboard GOES-19 is a new instrument, the Compact Coronagraph-1 (CCOR), which will support NOAAs Space Weather Follow On (SWFO) mission.

CCOR-1 will image the solar corona (the outer layer of the suns atmosphere) and help detect and characterize coronal mass ejections (CMEs), large expulsions of plasma and accompanying magnetic field from the corona, which are the primary cause of geomagnetic storms. CCOR-1 will be the nations first operational coronagraph and will serve as the primary source for information about impending geomagnetic storm conditions, allowing the Space Weather Prediction Center to issue warnings one to four days in advance.

View video of the GOES-U launch.

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NOAAs GOES-U Reaches Geostationary Orbit, Now Designated GOES-19 - nesdis