The final satellite in an advanced series of weather instruments designed to improve weather forecasting on Earth and in space began official operations Tuesday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
GOES-19 replaces GOES-16, providing coverage of the GOES East orbit 22,236 miles above the Earth's equator. It completes NOAA's line of geostationary operational satellites, known as the R-series, creating “the most advanced weather observing and environmental monitoring system” in the Western Hemisphere.
“The launch of GOES-19 allowed NOAA to launch the entire fleet of GOES-R satellites, providing the most advanced technology ever used to forecast weather on Earth,” said Stephen Foltz, associate administrator of NOAA’s Satellite and Information Services.
“GOES-19 supports NOAA's mission to ensure secure and timely access to global environmental data and information needed to protect the nation's security, environment, economy, and quality of life,” Foltz added.
Launched June 25, 2024, GOES-19 will monitor hurricanes and tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean. It will also track extreme weather, atmospheric rivers, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and other environmental events.
The satellite also carries instruments to monitor space weather by monitoring the Sun. NOAA’s first compact coronagraph, called CCOR-1, will provide “key information about approaching geomagnetic storm conditions.”
“CCOR-1 is a revolutionary instrument that will help us improve the nation's resilience to solar storms and track large solar outbursts in real time,” said Clinton Wallace, director of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.
“With its significantly improved resolution and faster detection, it enables more accurate prediction of hazardous space weather that can impact satellites, GPS, astronaut safety, aviation and power grids, thereby protecting critical technologies and infrastructure like never before,” Wallace added.
GOES-18, launched in March 2022, is the “third in this new, enhanced series.”
The GOES-R series of satellites includes four satellites developed and launched by NASA and operated by NOAA. GOES-19 joins GOES-18, or GOES West, to monitor more than half of the Earth from Africa to New Zealand and from the Arctic Circle to the South Pole.
The fleet of satellites is expected to provide valuable information on this year's Atlantic hurricane season, which is projected to be one of the most destructive and costly hurricane seasons on record for the Southeast and Florida, given the devastation caused by hurricanes Beryl, Helen and Milton.
SpaceX and NASA Launch Weather Satellite for NOAA
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