GOES-S Next Gen NOAA/NASA Weather Satellite Rolls to Pad, Poised for March 1 Blastoff and Quantum Leap in Weather Forecasting: Watch Live

A ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the GOES-S weather satellite mission for NASA and NOAA is rolled from the Vertical Integration Facility to Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, on Feb. 28, 2018.  Launch set for Mar. 1, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

Ken Kremer  --   SpaceUpClose.com  --   28 Feb 2018

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – At T minus 1 day, all systems are GO for the March 1 dinnertime liftoff of the NOAA/NASA GOES-S geostationary weather observation satellite that will be carried to orbit on a ULA Atlas V rocket from the Florida Space Coast and deliver a quantum leap in weather forecasting for the western United States.

Everything is looking good with the GOES-S spacecraft and Atlas V and we are go for liftoff,” Tim Gasparrini, GOES-S program manager for Lockheed Martin, told Space Up Close during an interview today, Feb. 28, at the KSC press site a day before launch.  

GOES-S was built by prime contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, Colorado. 

The mission has passed the Launch Readiness Review (LRR) said mission managers from the launch team comprising NASA, NOAA, ULA, Lockheed Martin and the 45^th Space Wing.

Liftoff of the NOAA/NASA GOES-S geostationary weather observation satellite is scheduled for Thursday,  March 1, 2018, near sunset at 5:02 p.m. EST aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from seaside Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The launch window extends for two hours from 5:02 - 7:02 p.m. EST.

It will be delivered to geostationary orbit soaring some 22,200 mi (35800 km) above Earth. 
You can watch the launch via a live broadcast on NASA TV beginning  at 4:30 p.m. March 1 with additional commentary on the NASA launch blog.

You can watch the launch live at NASA TV at: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

A ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the GOES-S weather satellite mission for NASA and NOAA is rolled from the Vertical Integration Facility to Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, on Feb. 28, 2018.  Launch set for Mar. 1, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

Furthermore, Thursday’s launch weather outlook is rather promising for this next generation weather satellite years in the making.

The latest L Minus 1 day weather forecast shows a 80 percent chance of favorable weather conditions for Thursday’s near sunset blastoff at launch time, said U.S. Air Force Air Force Meteorologist Kathy Winters with the 45^th Space Wing Weather Squadron on Patrick Air Force Base. 

The primary concerns are for Cumulous Clouds and Ground Winds.

In case of a delay for any reason technical or weather the backup launch opportunity is Friday, March 2 at 5:02 p.m.

The weather forecast is again 80 percent favorable. The primary concern is Cumulous Clouds.

A ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the GOES-S weather satellite mission for NASA and NOAA rolled out to Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL, on Feb. 28, 2018 and is poised for launch Mar. 1, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

And the liftoff should be spectacular! - Since its targeted for shortly before sunset which is often prime time for witnessing the best and most beautiful skywatching for launches that the space coast has to offer.

So come on down if you can – as so many already have!

GOES-S, which stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite–S, is a new and advanced transformational weather satellite that will vastly enhance the quality, speed and accuracy of weather forecasting available to forecasters for Earth’s Western Hemisphere after it becomes operational later this year.

Once it achieves orbit GOES-S will be renamed as GOES-17/GOES West.

“What we want is the complement of 2 imaging spacecraft on orbit and the GOES-17 launch will do that as the second new GOES spacecraft in orbit,” FL, Tim Walsh, acting GOES-R system program director at NOAA told Space UpClose during a recent interview with reporters in the cleanroom with the spacecraft at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, Fl, where technicians were actively processing the probe to ready it ahead of this week’s thunderous launch. 

“GOES 17 will complete the complement on orbit for NOAA.”

Up close view of nose cone housing NASA/NOAA GOES-S weather satellite atop ULA Atlas V rocket on Feb. 28, 2018. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

GOES-S is the twin sister observatory to GOES-R, which launched late in 2016 and recently became operational - and was renamed the GOES-16/GOES East satellite for the eastern US at its geostationary orbit soaring some 22,200 mi (35800 km) above Earth. 

“GOES 17 will become operation in the fall of 2018, “ Walsh stated. “It will give us the equivalent perspective for the western US that we now have for the eastern US using the six onboard instruments namely ABI and GLM, SUVI, EXIS, SEIS and the magnetometer.”

The NASA/NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is being processed in the clean room at Astrotech Space Operations, in Titusville, FL, on Jan. 16, in advance of planned launch on a ULA Atlas V slated for Mar. 1, 2018.  GOES-S belongs to new constellation of America’s most advanced weather satellites. Credit: Ken Kremer/SpaceUpClose.com/kenkremer.com

GOES-S is the second in the new GOES-R series of America’s most powerful and most advanced next generation geostationary weather observation satellites.  It is designed to last for a 15 year orbital lifetime and will deliver a ‘quantum leap’ in weather forecasting. 

The GOES-R series (including GOES-S) science suite includes the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI), Extreme Ultraviolet and X-Ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS), Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS), and the Magnetometer (MAG). 

ABI is the primary instrument and will collect 3 times more spectral data with 4 times greater resolution and scans 5 times faster than ever before - via the primary Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument - compared to the current GOES satellites.

The gigantic school bus sized satellite measures  6.1 m x 5.6 m x 3.9 m (20.0 ft x 18.4 ft x 12.8 ft) with a three-axis stabilized spacecraft bus.

It has a dry mass of 2,857 kg (6,299 lbs) and a fueled mass of 5,192 kg (11,446 lbs) at launch.

         

GOES-S will blastoff on a ULA Atlas V in the very powerful 541 configuration, augmented by four solid rocket boosters on the first stage.  The payload fairing is 5 meters (16.4 feet) in diameter and the upper stage is powered by a single-engine Centaur. 

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer - ken at kenkremer.com