NASA and NOAA's GOES-O Satellite Successfully Launched

WASHINGTON -- The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-O, soared into space today(June 27, 2009) after a successful launch from Space Launch Complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The GOES-O spacecraft lifted off at 6:51 p.m. EDT on a Delta IV rocket. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES-O satellite will improve weather forecasting and monitor environmental events around the world. The satellite is the second to be launched in the GOES N series of geostationary environmental weather satellites.

"All indications are that GOES-O is in a normal orbit, with all spacecraft systems functioning properly," stated Andre Dress, GOES deputy project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "We are proud of our support teams and pleased with the performance of the Delta IV launch vehicle."

Approximately 4 hours and 21 minutes after launch, the spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle. The Universal Space Network Western Australia tracking site in Dongara monitored the spacecraft separation.

On July 7, GOES-O will be placed in its final orbit and renamed GOES-14. Approximately 24 days after launch, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems will turn engineering control over to NASA. About five months later, NASA will transfer operational control of GOES-14 to NOAA. The satellite will be checked out, stored in orbit and available for activation should one of the operational GOES satellites degrade or exhaust its fuel.

NASA contracted with Boeing to build and launch the GOES-O spacecraft. NASA's Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida supported the launch in an advisory role. NOAA manages the GOES program, establishes requirements, provides all funding and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States. Goddard procures and manages the design, development and launch of the satellites for NOAA on a cost-reimbursable basis.

For more information about the GOES-O mission and program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/goes-o and http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov. For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov.

NASA SETS COVERAGE FOR GOES-O LAUNCH ON JUNE 26

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-O, or GOES-O, is scheduled for a liftoff on Friday, June 26, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The one-hour launch window extends from 6:14 to 7:14 p.m. EDT. GOES-O is the second of three in the current series of geostationary weather and environmental satellites.

NASA will provide television, Internet and photo coverage of the launch starting with a prelaunch news conference at 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 25, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center news center.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., was responsible for designing and developing the GOES-O spacecraft and its instruments for NOAA. Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems built GOES-O for NASA. It will be launched into orbit for NASA aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket procured by Boeing Launch Services.

NASA Television will carry the prelaunch news conference on the public channel. On launch day, June 26, NASA TV countdown coverage will begin on the media channel at 4 p.m. and will conclude 30 minutes after liftoff. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Audio only of the prelaunch news conference and the launch coverage will be carried on the NASA "V" circuits which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220, -1240, -1260 and -7135. On launch day, "Mission Audio," the launch conductor's countdown activities without NASA TV launch commentary, will be carried on 321-867-7135 starting at noon.
Launch also will be available on local amateur VHF radio frequency 146.940 MHz heard within Brevard County.

Prelaunch and launch day coverage of the GOES-O mission will be available on the NASA Web site at: http://www.nasa.gov

Live countdown coverage on NASA's launch blog begins at 4 p.m. on June 26. Coverage features real-time updates of countdown milestones, as well as streaming video and podcast of launch. For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/goes-o

For further information about GOES-O's launch coverage, contact the Kennedy Space Center news center at 321-867-2468.

GOES-N:

GOES-N was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex (SLC) 37B on a Boeing Delta IV (4,2) using a 4 meter fairing common booster core configuration, with two solid strap on motors, on May 24, 2006, at 6:11 pm EDT. The GOES-O Delta IV was erected on February 25, 2009, and the two solid rockets will be attached the following week. The use of the Delta IV upper stage Pratt & Whitney supplied RL10B engine performing a third burn to get to orbit saves fuel on the spacecraft, and helps achieve at least 13.5 years of fuel lifetime (nominally 5 years of on orbit storage and 5 years of operations). The Delta IV provided GOES-N an initial orbit of approximately 3,576 x 18,994 nmi at 12 degrees inclination. A series of spacecraft liquid apogee motor (LAM) firings was subsequently done to bring the spacecraft to geosynchronous orbit of approximately 22,233 miles (35,780 km). GOES-N successfully completed the necessary Liquid Apogee Motor Firings to get to geosynchronous orbit near 90 degrees west longitude and as of June 4, 2006, at 2:46 am EDT became GOES-13. The solar array was fully deployed as were the magnetometer boom, Imager and Sounder optical port covers and cooler doors, and the SXI. On Friday, June 2, 2006, the first command was sent from Wallops Virginia to GOES-N. The NOAA Wallops Command and Data Acquisition Station became the prime ground station on Sunday morning, June 4, 2006. GOES-O is expected to go through a similar launch and orbit raising plan.

The GOES-O post launch testing is expected to be reduced from that done for GOES-N since some capabilities have already been fully demonstrated on GOES-13. After successful post-launch checkout near 90 degrees west longitude by a coordinated Boeing, NASA, NOAA, GOES-O integrated Government and Industry team, from the NOAA Satellite Operations Control Center (SOCC) at the new NOAA Satellite Operations Facility (NSOF) in Suitland, Maryland, the satellite will be placed in an on-orbit storage mode at 105 degrees west longitude so that it can more rapidly replace a failure of any of the other operational GOES.