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| Names | Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Earth weather forecasting |
| Operator | NOAA |
| Mission duration | 15 years (planned) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | A2100 |
| Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin |
| Launch mass | 5,000 kg (11,023 lb) |
| Dry mass | 2,925 kg (6,449 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 30 April 2024 (planned)[1] |
| Rocket | Falcon Heavy |
| Launch site | Kennedy Space Center, LC-39A |
| Contractor | SpaceX |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit |
| Regime | Geostationary orbit |
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.[2]
The satellite is expected to be launched into space atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket no earlier than 30 April 2024 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, United States .[1] The redesign of the loop heat pipe to prevent an anomaly, as seen in GOES-17, is not expected to delay the launch as it did with GOES-T.[3]
GOES-U will also carry a copy of the Naval Research Laboratory's Compact CORonagraph (CCOR) instrument which, along with the CCOR planned for Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1), will allow continued monitoring of solar wind after the retirement of the NASA-ESA SOHO satellite in 2025.[4][5]
It will have a dry mass of 2,925 kg (6,449 lb) and a fueled mass of 5,000 kg (11,023 lb).[6]