NASA has sent to space the last satellite to complete the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, or GOES, constellation.
The space agency said Tuesday the satellite was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida using SpaceX’s Falcon rocket, which lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at 5:26 p.m. on Tuesday.
Commenting on the successful launch, Bill Nelson, administrator of NASA and a 2024 Wash100 Award recipient, said GOES-U will monitor weather in real-time. “This fleet of advanced satellites is strengthening resilience to our changing climate, and protecting humanity from weather hazards on Earth and in space,” the exec shared.
GOES-U will be renamed GOES-19 once it reaches a geostationary orbit, where it will monitor weather in North America, the Central and South Americas, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean.
The GOES constellation will provide coverage of weather and hazardous environmental conditions across the Western Hemisphere, according to NASA.
In addition, it will assist in forecasting near-Earth space weather that could potentially disrupt satellite electronics, GPS and radio communications.