The third spacecraft for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R series is set to launch in early 2022 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket.
The GOES-T satellite will lift off on March 1 from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to support NOAA’s weather observation and environmental monitoring system, NASA said Tuesday.
The satellite will be renamed GOES-18 once it reaches geostationary orbit and will enter service as GOES West. It will monitor weather systems and hazards that affect the U.S. West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America and the Pacific Ocean.
According to NOAA, GOES-T will observe atmospheric river events, collect data for monitoring wildfire and other natural disasters, track marine heatwaves and detect potential space weather hazards.
The GOES-R series is the next generation of geostationary weather satellites built to improve the detection and observations of local weather events. NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida will manage the launch.
