Weather Satellites: GOES 12

GOES 12 - Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 12

Launch date: July 3, 2001

Launch site: Cape Canaveral, Florida

Launch vehicle: Atlas 2A

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE:

The GOES system is a basic element of U.S. weather monitoring and forecast operations and is a key component of NWS modernization program. Spacecraft and ground-based systems work together to accomplish the GOES mission of providing weather imagery and quantitative sounding data for weather forecasting and related services. The new series of GOES satellites provides significant improvements over the previous GOES system in weather imagery and atmospheric sounding information. This improvements will be tested and its results will be compared to the information obtained in previous satellite instruments.

SPACECRAFT DESCRIPTION:

The spacecraft derive from Space System/Loral's communcations satellites, providing a 3-axis stabilized design. The main body of the spacecraft is a 2 meter cube, with a deployed length of 27 meters. The spacecraft weighs 5005 pounds. The GOES 12 system performs the following basic functions: Acquisition, processing, and dissemination of imaging and sounding data. Acquisition and dissemination of Space Environment Monitor (SEM) data. Reception and relay of data from ground-based Data Collection Platforms (DCPs) that are situated in carefully selected urban and remote areas to the NOAA Command and Data Acquisition (CDA) station. Continuous relay of Weather Facsimile (WEFAX) and other data to users, independent of all other functions. Relay of distress signals from people, aircraft, or marine vessels to the search and rescue ground stations of the Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) system. It is also the first satellite equipped with an operational Solar X-ray Imager to detect solar storms. GOES-12 is located at 90 W longitude, and in post-launch testing of the instruments. After testing, NOAA will shut it down and keep it as an "on orbit spare" until GOES-8 of GOES-10 fails. It joins GOES-11, also in storage.

Click here for an artist's sketch of GOES-10.

PARTICIPANTS:

NASA, NOAA, Space Systems/Loral, ITT, General Dynamics Space Systems Division.