Names | Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U |
---|---|
Mission type | Earth weather forecasting |
Operator | NOAA |
Mission duration | 15 years (planned) |
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 | June 25, 2024 (planned)[1] |
Rocket | Falcon Heavy |
Launch site | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A |
Contractor | SpaceX |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
Regime | Geostationary orbit |
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 is expected to be launched into space atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on June 25, 2024,[4] delayed from April 30 2024,[5] 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.[6] from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, United States.
GOES-U will also carry 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.[7][8]
It will have a dry mass of 2,925 kg (6,449 lb) and a fueled mass of 5,000 kg (11,023 lb).[9]