NOAA and SpaceX have finally set a date to launch the last satellite of the GOES-R Series into geostationary orbit on June 25 after a lengthy delay due to a rocket booster leak.
NOAA called this launch “monumental” and claimed its network of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites is “the nation’s most advanced weather observing and environmental monitoring satellite system.”
GOES-U is the fourth and last satellite to join the series. Once in orbit, it will be renamed GOES-19. From 22,236 miles above the equator, GOES-19 will continuously observe weather systems across the Western Hemisphere. It will replace GOES-16 in the GOES-East orbit.
The view from GOES-East and West stretches from the west coast of Africa to New Zealand and from near the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle, according to NOAA.