GOES-O Launch

Spacecraft: GOES-O
Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta IV
Launch Location: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Launch Pad: Launch Complex 37
Launch Date: June 26, 2009
Launch Window: 6:14 p.m. - 7:14 p.m. EDT

Delta IV rocket
Image above: The Delta IV that is to carry the GOES-O weather satellite into space stands together with its payload at Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Image credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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June 12 Update

At the Astrotech Space Operations Facility on June 7, GOES-O enclosed in the payload fairing was rolled out of its payload processing facility high bay and moved to Launch Complex 37. It arrived at the launch pad on June 8 and was hoisted for mating atop the Delta IV rocket during the overnight hours of June 9. The Interface Verification Test to verify the electrical and mechanical connections between GOES-O and the Delta IV was conducted on June 10. The Flight Program Verification, an integrated countdown and powered flight electrical test involving both the Delta IV and GOES-O, was successfully conducted on June 11.

Also on June 10, the launch vehicle's linear shape charge, part of the flight termination system, successfully completed its testing.

NASA has contracted with Boeing to build and launch the GOES-O spacecraft. The NASA Launch Services Program at Kennedy is supporting the launch in an advisory role. NASA spacecraft project management for GOES-O is the responsibility of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. After launch, once Boeing and NASA have completed on-orbit checkout and the spacecraft is operational, it will be turned over to NOAA.

The latest in a series of weather observation satellites in the GOES series will launch this spring to begin watching atmospheric conditions near and over the United States. The acronym GOES stands for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites. The GOES-O satellite is the second in a series of three state-of-the-art weather satellites. The satellites provide many of the satellite photos of Earth shown on newscasts in the United States.

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