GOES-P Renamed GOES-15

The latest addition to the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) constellation, GOES-P has now achieved its final storage orbit, some 12 days after its flawless launch. According to experts at NASA and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the new spacecraft has now been renamed GOES-15, and it has just finished being set up for its future mission. At this point, no plans are in place to actually put the new instrument to work.

Rather, experts say that the spacecraft will remain in its current position, ready to intervene in case another member of the GOES constellation degrades, leaves its orbit, or runs out of fuel. The new weather satellite will complete its checkout in mid-August 2010, the team managing it says. “The NASA team has done an excellent job and the spacecraft performance has been near perfect. Reaching the proper orbit marks a significant milestone, but we still have a lot of work to complete. We remain focused on the tasks at hand and look forward to complete mission success,” says the NASA GOES deputy project manager, Andre Dress.

The spacecraft launched on March 3, aboard a Delta IV delivery system provided by the United Launch Alliance (ULA). Since then, managers have performed a number of five orbital adjustment maneuvers, until finally the satellite reached its planned orbit, some 22,000 miles above the surface of the planet. It is currently located at a checkout longitude of 90° West, the engineers said, and fully operational. Its solar panels were deployed by NASA experts on March 17, while the Imager and Sounder instruments are scheduled to be turned on on March 23.

GOES-15 is the third and last addition to the GOES N-P Series of spacecrafts, which include only geostationary environmental weather satellites. At this point, the two operating instruments in the system provide coverage for about 50 percent of the planet's surface, sending back valuable data to help with weather prediction and disaster management. Once the post launch verification testings are complete, NOAA will receive full operational control of the spacecraft. The tests are scheduled to begin on March 24, and last for approximately 150 days.