Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) Launch

Watch the launch of the GOES-U weather-observing and environmental monitoring satellite on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket! The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-U mission, the final addition to the GOES-R series, will help to prepare for two kinds of weather — Earth and space weather. The two-hour launch window opens at 5:16 p.m. EDT (2116 UTC) Tuesday, June 25, for liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The GOES satellites serve a critical role in providing continuous coverage of the Western Hemisphere, including monitoring tropical systems in the eastern Pacific and Atlantic oceans. This continuous monitoring aids scientists and forecasters in issuing timely warnings and forecasts to help protect the one billion people who live and work in the Americas. Additionally, GOES-U carries a new compact coronagraph that will image the outer layer of the Sun’s atmosphere to detect and characterize coronal mass ejections.

NASA’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center, manages the launch service for the GOES-U mission. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center oversees the acquisition of the spacecraft and instruments.