CAPE CANAVERAL, FL - A day after its launch was scrubbed for bead weather, the newest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-O, rocketed into orbit today after lifting off from Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 37 at 6:51 p.m. EDT on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket.
VIDEO: DELTA IV LIFTS OFF WITH GOES-O VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAYS - PART 1 VIDEO: LAUNCH REPLAYS - PART 2 VIDEO: OUR VIEW OF THE GOES-O LAUNCH VIDEO: LAUNCH MANAGER RICH MURPHY POSTLAUNCH COMMENTS ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: CAPE CANAVERAL AE VIDEO CHANNEL 2 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: CAPE CANAVERAL AE VIDEO CHANNEL 3 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: CAPE CANAVERAL AE VIDEO CHANNEL 4 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE NASA TV LAUNCH COVERAGE - 150K BPS ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE NASA TV LAUNCH COVERAGE - 1.2 MBPS - PART 1 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE NASA TV LAUNCH COVERAGE - 1.2 MBPS - PART 2 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE NASA TV LAUNCH COVERAGE - 1.2 MBPS - PART 3 HI-DEF VIDEO: NASA TV HD LAUNCH CLIP -------- VIDEO: TODAY'S LAUNCH ATTEMPT IS SCRUBBED VIDEO: DELTA ROCKET PROCESSING VIDEO: NASA'S KRIS WALSH VIDEO: SERVICE TOWER ROLLBACK VIDEO: GOES PROJECT OVERVIEW VIDEO: GOES-O SPACECRAFT OVERVIEW ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: CAPE CANAVERAL AE VIDEO CHANNEL 2 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: CAPE CANAVERAL AE VIDEO CHANNEL 3 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE COVERAGE OF TODAYS LAUNCH ATTEMPT - 150 KBPS ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE COVERAGE OF TODAY'S LAUNCH ATTEMPT - 1.2 MBPS - PART 1 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE COVERAGE OF TODAY'S LAUNCH ATTEMPT - 1.2 MBPS - PART 2 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE COVERAGE OF TODAY'S LAUNCH ATTEMPT - 1.2 MBPS - PART 3 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE COVERAGE OF TODAY'S LAUNCH ATTEMPT - 1.2 MBPS - PART 4 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH COMPLETE COVERAGE OF TODAY'S LAUNCH ATTEMPT - 1.2 MBPS - PART 5 -------- VIDEO: GOES-O PRELAUNCH PRESS CONFERENCE ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: GOES-O PRELAUNCH PRESS CONFERENCE - 1.2 MBPS READ: GOES-O LAUNCH PRESS KIT READ: GOES-O MISSION BOOK READ: GOES-O FACT SHEET READ: GOES DATABOOK GOES-O, managed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 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 weather satellites. "All indications aare that GOES-O is in a normal orbit, with all spacecraft systems functioning properly," said Andre Dress, GOES Deputy Project Manager for 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, 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 event. The first contact with the spacecraft following separation came at 12:25 a.m. EDT from the ground station on the Diego Garcia atoll in the Indian Ocean. "We are very pleased to report that GOES-O is performing as planned, and we will continue to support this satellite through handover to NOAA so that it can fulfill its mission of providing critical, life-saving weather information," said Craig Cooning, Vice President and General Manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "The launch of GOES-O is a testament to the collaborative teaming and commitment of our employees to provide best-of-industry, next-generation environmental systems to NASA and NOAA." 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, which built the spacecraft, 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, fail or exhaust its fuel. GOES-O, which is designed for a minimum orbital lifespan of 10 years, will be placed in on-orbit storage and may replace an older GOES satellite in 2010. Together with GOES-13, launched on May 24, 2006, GOES-O will provide complete coverage of the Western Hemisphere. 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 requirement, 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. The three-asix BOeing 601 spacecraft includes an imager that produces visible and infrared images of the Earth's surface, oceans, cloud cover and storm developments; a multispectral sounder that provides vertical temperature and moisture profiles of the atmosphere; and a solar X-ray imager that monitors the Sun's X-rays for early detection of solar flares. GOES-O also carries space environment monitoring instruments that will measure X-rays and extreme ultraviolet and particle emissions, including solar protons, alpha particles and electrons. The GOES-O communications subsystem also includes a search-and-rescue capability to detect distress signals from ships and airplanes. (The Spacearium / Space Media Corporation)
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