This is a list of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites. GOES spacecraft are operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with NASA responsible for research and development, and later procurement of spacecraft.
| Designation | Launch Date/Time (UTC) | Rocket | Launch Site | Longitude | First Image | Status | Retirement | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch | Operational | ||||||||
SMS-derived satellitesManufactured by Ford Aerospace | |||||||||
| GOES-A | GOES-1 | 16 October 1975, 22:40 | Delta 2914 | CCAFS LC-17A | 25 October 1975 | Retired | 7 March 1985 [1] | ||
| GOES-B | GOES-2 | 15 June 1977, 10:51 | Delta 2914 | CCAFS LC-17B | 60° W | Retired | 1993 [2] | Reactivated as comsat in 1995, [2] finally deactivated in May 2001 | |
| GOES-C | GOES-3 | 16 June 1978, 10:49 | Delta 2914 | CCAFS LC-17B | Retired | 1993 [3] | Reactivated as comsat in 1995, [3] decommissioned 29 June 2016 | ||
First generationBuilt on a Hughes Space and Communications HS-371 spacecraft bus | |||||||||
| GOES-D | GOES-4 | 9 September 1980, 22:57 | Delta 3914 | CCAFS LC-17A | 135° W | Retired | 22 November 1988 [4] | ||
| GOES-E | GOES-5 | 22 May 1981, 22:29 | Delta 3914 | CCAFS LC-17A | 75° W | Retired | 18 July 1990 [5] | ||
| GOES-F | GOES-6 | 28 April 1983, 22:26 | Delta 3914 | CCAFS LC-17A | 136° W [6] | Retired | 21 January 1989 [6] | ||
| GOES-G | N/A | 3 May 1986, 22:18 | Delta 3914 | CCAFS LC-17A | 135° W (planned) | N/A | Failed | +71 seconds | Launch failure [7] |
| GOES-H | GOES-7 | 26 February 1987, 23:05 | Delta 3914 | CCAFS LC-17A | 75° W, 98° W, 112° W, 135° W, 95° W, 175° W | Retired | January 1996 [8] | Reactivated as comsat for Peacesat from 1999-2012, moved to graveyard orbit 12 April 2012. [9] | |
Second generationBuilt on a Space Systems/Loral LS-1300 spacecraft bus | |||||||||
| GOES-I | GOES-8 | 13 April 1994, 06:04 | Atlas I | CCAFS LC-36B | 75° W | 9 May 1994 | Retired | 4 May 2004 [10] | In graveyard orbit |
| GOES-J | GOES-9 | 23 May 1995, 05:52 | Atlas I | CCAFS LC-36B | 135° W, 155° E | 19 June 1995 | Retired | 14 June 2007 [11] | In graveyard orbit |
| GOES-K | GOES-10 | 25 April 1997, 05:49 | Atlas I | CCAFS LC-36B | 135° W, 65° W | 13 May 1997 | Retired | 1 December 2009 [12] | In graveyard orbit |
| GOES-L | GOES-11 | 3 May 2000, 07:07 | Atlas IIA | CCAFS SLC-36A | 135° W | 17 May 2000 | Retired | 16 December 2011 [13] | Retired, Drifting west |
| GOES-M | GOES-12 | 23 July 2001, 07:23 | Atlas IIA | CCAFS SLC-36A | 60° W | 17 August 2001 | Retired | 16 August 2013 | Operated at GOES-South covering South America, and retained as spare, following replacement at GOES-East by GOES-13. Now in a graveyard orbit. |
Third generation | |||||||||
| GOES-N | GOES-13 | 24 May 2006, 22:11 | Delta IV-M+(4,2) | CCAFS SLC-37B | 75° W, 61.5° E | 22 June 2006 | Inactive | Replaced by GOES-16 at GOES-East on 18 December 2017. [14] Operational again as EWS-G1 since 8 September 2020. | |
| GOES-O | GOES-14 | 27 June 2009, 22:51 | Delta IV-M+(4,2) | CCAFS SLC-37B | 105° W | 27 July 2009 | Standby | On-orbit spare, was used to cover GOES-East imagery and moved into position following GOES-13 malfunction in 2012, [15] also activated to cover GOES-13 outage in mid-2013 | |
| GOES-P | GOES-15 | 4 March 2010, 23:57 | Delta IV-M+(4,2) | CCAFS SLC-37B | 89.5° W, 135° W | 7 April 2010 | Standby [16] | On-orbit spare for GOES-West | |
| GOES-Q | NA | N/A | Not built | N/A | Planned but not contracted [17] | ||||
Fourth generation (GOES-R Series)Built on a Lockheed Martin A2100 spacecraft bus | |||||||||
| GOES-R | GOES-16 | 19 November 2016, 23:42 [18] | Atlas V 541 | CCAFS SLC-41 | 75.2° W | 15 January 2017 | Active | Replaced GOES-13 at GOES-East on 18 December 2017. [14] [19] | |
| GOES-S | GOES-17 | 1 March 2018 [20] | Atlas V 541 | CCAFS SLC-41 | 137.2° W | 13 November 2018 | Standby | GOES-West (2018–2023) | |
| GOES-T | GOES-18 | 1 March 2022 21:38 [21] | Atlas V 541 | CCSFS SLC-41 | 137.2° W | Active | GOES-West (2023–present) | ||
| Scheduled launches | |||||||||
| GOES-U | 30 April 2024 [22] | Falcon Heavy | KSC LC-39A | GOES-East | |||||
The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), operated by the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service division, supports weather forecasting, severe storm tracking, and meteorology research. Spacecraft and ground-based elements of the system work together to provide a continuous stream of environmental data. The National Weather Service (NWS) and the Meteorological Service of Canada use the GOES system for their North American weather monitoring and forecasting operations, and scientific researchers use the data to better understand land, atmosphere, ocean, and climate dynamics.
The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) was to be the United States' next-generation satellite system that would monitor the Earth's weather, atmosphere, oceans, land, and near-space environment. NPOESS satellites were to host proven technologies and operational versions of sensors that were under operational-prototyping by NASA, at that time. The estimated launch date for the first NPOESS satellite, "C1" or "Charlie 1" was around 2013. Issues with sensor developments were the primary cited reason for delays and cost-overruns.
The Applications Technology Satellites (ATS) were a series of experimental satellites launched by NASA, under the supervision of, among others, Wernher von Braun. The program was launched in 1966 to test the feasibility of placing a satellite into geosynchronous orbit. The satellites were primarily designed to act as communication satellites, but also carried equipment related to meteorology and navigation. ATS-6 was the world's first educational satellite as well as world's first experimental Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) as part of the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) between NASA and ISRO.
The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) was created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to operate and manage the United States environmental satellite programs, and manage the data gathered by the National Weather Service and other government agencies and departments.
GOES-1, designated GOES-A and SMS-C prior to entering service, was a weather satellite, developed by the NASA, operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It was the first Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) to be launched.
GOES-14, known as GOES-O prior to reaching its operational orbit, is an American weather satellite, which is part of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system. The spacecraft was built by Boeing and is based on the BSS-601 bus. It is the second of three GOES satellites to use the BSS-601 bus, after GOES-13, which was launched in May 2006.
EWS-G1 is a weather satellite of the U.S. Space Force, formerly GOES-13 and part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. On 14 April 2010, GOES-13 became the operational weather satellite for GOES-East. It was replaced by GOES-16 on 18 December 2017 and on 8 January 2018 its instruments were shut off and it began its three-week drift to an on-orbit storage location at 60.0° West longitude, arriving on 31 January 2018. It remained there as a backup satellite in case one of the operational GOES satellites had a problem until early July 2019, when it started to drift westward and was being transferred to the U.S. Air Force, and then the U.S. Space Force.
GOES-8, known as GOES-I before becoming operational, was an American weather satellite, which formed part of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. It was launched in 1994, and operated until 2004 when it was retired and boosted to a graveyard orbit. At launch, the satellite had a mass of 2,105 kilograms (4,641 lb), and an expected operational lifespan of three or five years. It was built by Space Systems/Loral, based on the LS-1300 satellite bus, and was the first of five GOES-I series satellites to be launched.
GOES-7, known as GOES-H before becoming operational, is an American satellite. It was originally built as a weather satellite, and formed part of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. Originally built as a ground spare, GOES-H was launched in 1987 due to delays with the next series of satellites. It was operated by NOAA until 1999, before being leased to Peacesat, who use it as a communications satellite. As of 2009, it was operational over the Pacific Ocean, providing communications for the Pacific Islands. On April 12, 2012, the spacecraft was finally decommissioned and moved to a graveyard orbit.
GOES-2, known as GOES-B before becoming operational, was a geostationary weather satellite which was operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as part of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. GOES-2 was built by Ford Aerospace, and was based on the satellite bus developed for the Synchronous Meteorological Satellite programme. At launch it had a mass of 295 kilograms (650 lb). It was positioned in geostationary orbit, from where it was used for weather forecasting in the United States. Following its retirement as a weather satellite, it was used as a communications satellite until its final decommissioning in 2001.
GOES-3, known as GOES-C before becoming operational, was an American geostationary weather and communications satellite. It was originally built for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as part of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system, and was launched in June 1978. It was positioned in geostationary orbit, from where it was initially used for weather forecasting in the United States. Since ceasing to function as a weather satellite in 1989, it was used as a communications satellite, and spent over thirty-eight years in operation. GOES-3 was decommissioned 29 June 2016 at the Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing facility in Miami, Florida.
GOES-4, known as GOES-D before becoming operational, was a geostationary weather satellite which was operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as part of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. Launched in 1980, it was used for weather forecasting in the United States, and later in Europe. Following its retirement it became the first satellite to be sent into a graveyard orbit.
EWS-G2 is a weather satellite of the U.S. Space Force, formerly GOES-15. The spacecraft was constructed by Boeing, and is the last of three GOES satellites to be based on the BSS-601 bus. It was launched in 2010, while the other BSS-601 GOES satellites—GOES-13 and GOES-14—were launched in May 2006 and June 2009 respectively. It was the sixteenth GOES satellite to be launched.
The Synchronous Meteorological Satellite (SMS) program, was a program where NASA developed two weather satellites; which were placed into geosynchronous orbit.
The Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) is the latest generation of U.S. polar-orbiting, non-geosynchronous, environmental satellites. JPSS will provide the global environmental data used in numerical weather prediction models for forecasts, and scientific data used for climate monitoring. JPSS will aid in fulfilling the mission of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency of the Department of Commerce. Data and imagery obtained from the JPSS will increase timeliness and accuracy of public warnings and forecasts of climate and weather events, thus reducing the potential loss of human life and property and advancing the national economy. The JPSS is developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who is responsible for operation of JPSS. Three to five satellites are planned for the JPSS constellation of satellites. JPSS satellites will be flown, and the scientific data from JPSS will be processed, by the JPSS – Common Ground System (JPSS-CGS).
ATS-1 was an experimental geostationary satellite, launched in 1966. Though intended as a communications satellite rather than as a weather satellite, it carried the Spin Scan Cloud Camera developed by Verner E. Suomi and Robert Parent at the University of Wisconsin. After entering an orbit at 23,000 mi (37,000 km) above Earth, initially in orbit over Ecuador, it transmitted weather images from the Western Hemisphere, as well as other data, to ground stations, including well as video feeds for television broadcasting. It took one of the first pictures of the Earth's full-disk, on December 11, 1966.
"For the first time," historians would note later, "rapid-imaging of nearly an entire hemisphere was possible. We could watch, fascinated, as storm systems developed and moved and were captured in a time series of images. Today such images are an indispensable part of weather analysis and forecasting."
GOES-16, formerly known as GOES-R before reaching geostationary orbit, is the first of the GOES-R series of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) operated by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). GOES-16 serves as the operational geostationary weather satellite in the GOES East position at 75.2°W, providing a view centered on the Americas. GOES-16 provides high spatial and temporal resolution imagery of the Earth through 16 spectral bands at visible and infrared wavelengths using its Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). GOES-16's Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) is the first operational lightning mapper flown in geostationary orbit. The spacecraft also includes four other scientific instruments for monitoring space weather and the Sun.
NOAA-21, designated JPSS-2 prior to launch, is the second of the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s latest generation of U.S. polar-orbiting, non-geosynchronous, environmental satellites called the Joint Polar Satellite System. NOAA-21 was launched on 10 November 2022 and join NOAA-20 and Suomi NPP in the same orbit. Circling the Earth from pole-to-pole, it will cross the equator about 14 times daily, providing full global coverage twice a day. It was launched with LOFTID.
GOES-U is a planned weather satellite, the fourth and last of the GOES-R series of satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The GOES-R series will extend the availability of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system until 2036. The satellite will be built by Lockheed Martin, based on the A2100 platform.
| SMS (predecessor) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| SMS derived | ||
| 1st generation | ||
| 2nd generation | ||
| 3rd generation | ||
| 4th generation | ||
