Jump to content

NASA Sets Launch Coverage for NOAA Weather Satellite


Recommended Posts

  • Publishers
Posted
ksc-20240614-ph-jbs01-0077large.jpg?w=19
Crews transport NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-U) from the Astrotech Space Operations facility to the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida beginning on Friday, June 14, 2024, with the operation finishing early Saturday, June 15, 2024. The fourth and final weather-observing and environmental monitoring satellite in NOAA’s GOES-R Series will assist meteorologists in providing advanced weather forecasting and warning capabilities. The two-hour window for liftoff opens 5:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 25, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (NASA/Ben Smegelsky)

NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch and launch activities for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) mission. The two-hour launch window opens at 5:16 p.m. EDT Tuesday, June 25, for the satellite’s launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

The GOES-U satellite, the final addition to GOES-R series, will help to prepare for two kinds of weather — Earth and space weather. The GOES satellites serve a critical role in providing continuous coverage of the Western Hemisphere, including monitoring tropical systems in the eastern Pacific and Atlantic oceans. This continuous monitoring aids scientists and forecasters in issuing timely warnings and forecasts to help protect the one billion people who live and work in the Americas. Additionally, GOES-U carries a new compact coronagraph that will image the outer layer of the Sun’s atmosphere to detect and characterize coronal mass ejections. 

The deadline for media accreditation for in-person coverage of this launch has passed. NASA’s media credentialing policy is available online. For questions about media accreditation, please email: ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov

NASA’s mission coverage is as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations): 

Monday, June 24 

9:30 a.m. – NASA EDGE GOES-U prelaunch show on NASA+, the NASA app, and the agency’s website

11 a.m. – GOES-U science briefing with the following participants: 

  • Charles Webb, deputy director, Joint Agency Satellite Division, NASA 
  • Ken Graham, director, NOAA’s National Weather Service 
  • Dan Lindsey, chief scientist, GOES-R Program, NOAA 
  • Elsayed Talaat, director, NOAA’s Office of Space Weather Observations 
  • Chris Wood, NOAA Hurricane Hunter pilot 

Coverage of the science news conference will stream live on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website

Media may ask questions in person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than one hour before the start of the event at ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov

3:15 p.m. – NASA Social panel at Kennedy with the following participants: 

  • Jade Zsiros, telemetry engineer, NASA’s Launch Services Program 
  • Ellen Ramirez, deputy division chief, Mission Operations Division, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service Office of Satellite and Product Operations, NOAA 
  • Dakota Smith, satellite analyst and communicator, NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere 
  • Allana Nepomuceno, senior manager, GOES-U Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations, Lockheed Martin 
  • Chris Reith, program manager, Advanced Baseline Imager, L3Harris Technologies 

The panel will stream live on NASA Kennedy’s YouTube, X and Facebook accounts. Members of the public may ask questions online by posting to the YouTube, X, and Facebook live streams or using #AskNASA. 

5 p.m. – Prelaunch news conference at Kennedy (following completion of the Launch Readiness Review), with the following participants: 

  • Denton Gibson, launch director, Launch Services Program, NASA 
  • Steve Volz, assistant administrator, NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service 
  • Pam Sullivan, director, GOES-R Program, NOAA 
  • John Gagosian, director, Joint Agency Satellite Division 
  • Julianna Scheiman, director, NASA Science Missions, SpaceX 
  • Brian Cizek, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, U.S. Space Force 

Coverage of the prelaunch news conference will stream live on NASA+, the NASA app, YouTube, and the agency’s website

Media may ask questions in person and via phone. Limited auditorium space will be available for in-person participation. For the dial-in number and passcode, media should contact the Kennedy newsroom no later than one hour before the start of the event at ksc-newsroom@mail.nasa.gov

Tuesday, June 25 

1 p.m. – Media one-on-one interviews with the following: 

  • Michael Morgan, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction, NOAA 
  • Michael Brennan, director, NOAA’s National Hurricane Center 
  • James Spann, senior scientist, Office of Space Weather Observations, NOAA 
  • John Gagosian, director, Joint Agency Satellite Division 
  • Krizia Negron, language program lead, National Weather Service Office of Science and Technology Integration, NOAA (bilingual, available for Spanish interviews) 
  • Dan Lindsey, chief scientist, GOES-R Program, NOAA 
  • Jagdeep Shergill, program director, GEO Weather, Lockheed Martin 
  • Chris Reith, program manager, Advanced Baseline Imager, L3Harris Technologies 

4:15 p.m. – NASA launch coverage begins on NASA+, the agency’s website, and other digital channels.  

5:16 p.m. – Two-hour launch window opens 

Audio Only Coverage 

Audio only of the news conferences and launch coverage will be carried on the NASA “V” circuits, which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220, -1240 or -7135. On launch day, “mission audio,” countdown activities without NASA Television media launch commentary, will be carried on 321-867-7135. 

Live Video Coverage Prior to Launch 

NASA will provide a live video feed of Launch Complex 39A approximately 24 hours prior to the planned liftoff of the mission on NASA Kennedy’s YouTube: https://youtube.com/kscnewsroom. The feed will be uninterrupted until the prelaunch broadcast begins on NASA Television media channel. 

NASA Website Launch Coverage 

Launch day coverage of the mission will be available on the agency’s website. Coverage will include live streaming and blog updates beginning no earlier than 3 p.m., June 25, as the countdown milestones occur. On-demand streaming video and photos of the launch will be available shortly after liftoff. 

For questions about countdown coverage, contact the Kennedy newsroom at 321-867-2468. Follow countdown coverage on the GOES blog

Para obtener información sobre cobertura en español en el Centro Espacial Kennedy o si desea solicitar entrevistas en español, comuníquese con Antonia Jaramillo: antonia.jaramillobotero@nasa.gov o Messod Bendayan: messod.c.bendayan@nasa.gov 

Attend the Launch Virtually 

Members of the public can register to attend this launch virtually. NASA’s virtual guest program for this mission also includes curated launch resources, notifications about related opportunities or changes, and a stamp for the NASA virtual guest passport following launch. 

Watch, Engage on Social Media 

Let people know you’re following the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by using the hashtags #ReadyToGOES and #NASASocial. You can also stay connected by following and tagging these accounts: 

X: @NASA, @NASA_LSP, @NASAKennedy, @NOAASatellites, @NASAGoddard 

Facebook: NASA, NASA LSP, NASA Kennedy, NOAA Satellites, NASA Goddard 

Instagram: NASA, NASA Kennedy, NOAA Satellites 

For more information about the mission, visit: 

https://www.nasa.gov/goes-u

-end- 

Liz Vlock 
Headquarters, Washington 
202-358-1600 
elizabeth.a.vlock@nasa.gov 

Peter Jacobs 
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 
301-286-0535 
peter.jacobs@nasa.gov 

Leejay Lockhart 
Kennedy Space Center, Florida 
321-747-8310 
leejay.lockhart@nasa.gov 

View the full article

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Similar Topics

    • By NASA
      A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft is launched on NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 23 mission to the International Space Station on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025.Credit: NASA NASA is sending more science, technology demonstrations, and crew supplies to the International Space Station following the successful launch of the agency’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 23 mission, or Northrop Grumman CRS-23.
      The company’s Cygnus XL spacecraft, carrying more than 11,000 pounds of cargo to the orbiting laboratory, lifted off at 6:11 p.m. EDT Sunday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This mission is the first flight of the larger, more cargo-capable version of the solar-powered spacecraft. 
      Cygnus XL is scheduled to be captured at 6:35 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 17, by the Canadarm2 robotic arm, which NASA astronaut Jonny Kim will operate with assistance from NASA astronaut Zena Cardman. Following capture, the spacecraft will be installed to the Unity module’s Earth-facing port for cargo unloading.
      The resupply mission is carrying dozens of research experiments that will be conducted during Expedition 73, including materials to produce semiconductor crystals in space and equipment to develop improvements for cryogenic fuel tanks. The spacecraft also will deliver a specialized UV light system to prevent the growth of microbe communities that form in water systems and supplies to produce pharmaceutical crystals that could treat cancer and other diseases.
      These are just a sample of the hundreds of scientific investigations conducted aboard the station in the areas of biology and biotechnology, Earth and space science, physical sciences, as well as technology development and demonstrations. For nearly 25 years, NASA has supported a continuous U.S. human presence aboard the orbiting laboratory, where astronauts have learned to live and work in space for extended periods of time. The space station is a springboard for developing a low Earth economy and NASA’s next great leaps in exploration, including Artemis missions to the Moon and American astronaut missions to Mars.
      NASA’s arrival, capture, and installation coverage are as follows (all times Eastern and subject to change based on real-time operations):
      Wednesday, Sept. 17
      5 a.m. – Arrival coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and more.
      6:35 a.m. – Capture of Cygnus XL with the space station’s robotic arm.
      8 a.m. – Installation coverage begins on NASA+, Amazon Prime, and more.
      All coverage times are estimates and could be adjusted based on operations after launch. Follow the space station blog for the most up-to-date information.
      Cygnus XL is scheduled to remain at the orbiting laboratory until March 2026, before it departs and disposes of several thousand pounds of trash through its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, where it will harmlessly burn up. The spacecraft is named the S.S. William “Willie” C. McCool, in honor of the NASA astronaut who perished in 2003 during the space shuttle Columbia accident.
      Learn more about this NASA commercial resupply mission at:
      https://www.nasa.gov/mission/nasas-northrop-grumman-crs-23/
      -end-
      Josh Finch / Jimi Russell
      Headquarters, Washington
      202-358-1100
      joshua.a.finch@nasa.gov / james.j.russell@nasa.gov
      Steven Siceloff
      Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
      321-876-2468
      steven.p.siceloff@nasa.gov
      Sandra Jones / Joseph Zakrzewski
      Johnson Space Center, Houston
      281-483-5111
      sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov / joseph.a.zakrzewski@nasa.gov
      Share
      Details
      Last Updated Sep 14, 2025 LocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
      International Space Station (ISS) Commercial Resupply ISS Research Johnson Space Center Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply View the full article
    • By NASA
      NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 23 Rendezvous and Capture
    • By Amazing Space
      NASA / SPACEX CRS-23 ISS RESUPPLY LAUNCH LIVE
    • By NASA
      NASA’s Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Services 23 Launch
    • By NASA
      5 min read
      Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
      A ship plows through rough seas in the Bering Sea in the aftermath of Typhoon Tip, one of the largest hurricanes on record. The Sentinel-6B satellite will provide data crucial to forecasting sea states, information that can help ships avoid danger. CC BY 2.0 NOAA/Commander Richard Behn Sea surface height data from the Sentinel-6B satellite, led by NASA and ESA, will help with the development of marine weather forecasts, alerting ships to possible dangers.
      Because most global trade travels by ship, accurate, timely ocean forecasts are essential. These forecasts provide crucial information about storms, high winds, and rough water, and they depend on measurements provided by instruments in the ocean and by satellites including Sentinel-6B, a joint mission led by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) that will provide essential sea level and other ocean data after it launches this November.
      The satellite will eventually take over from its twin, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, which launched in 2020. Both satellites have an altimeter instrument that measures sea levels, wind speeds, and wave heights, among other characteristics, which meteorologists feed into models that produce marine weather forecasts. Those forecasts provide information on the state of the ocean as well as the changing locations of large currents like the Gulf Stream. Dangerous conditions can result when waves interact with such currents, putting ships at risk.
      “Building on NASA’s long legacy of satellite altimetry data and its real-world impact on shipping operations, Sentinel-6B will soon take on the vital task of improving ocean and weather forecasts to help keep ships, their crews, and cargo safe”, said Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer, lead program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
      Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich and Sentinel-6B are part of the Sentinel-6/Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) mission, the latest in a series of ocean-observing radar altimetry missions that have monitored Earth’s changing seas since the early 1990s. Sentinel-6/Jason-CS is a collaboration between NASA, ESA, the European Union, EUMETSAT (European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites), and NOAA (U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). The European Commission provided funding support, and the French space agency CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales) contributed technical support.
      Keeping current
      “The ocean is getting busier, but it’s also getting more dangerous,” said Avichal Mehra, deputy director of the Ocean Prediction Center at the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland. He and his colleagues produce marine weather forecasts using data from ocean-based instruments as well as complementary measurements from five satellites, including Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. Among those measurements: sea level, wave height, and wind speed. The forecasters derive the location of large currents from changes in sea level.
      One of the planet’s major currents, the Gulf Stream is located off the southeastern coast of the United States, but its exact position varies. “Ships will actually change course depending on where the Gulf Stream is and the direction of the waves,” said Mehra. “There have been instances where, in calm conditions, waves interacting with the Gulf Stream have caused damage or the loss of cargo containers on ships.”
      Large, warm currents like the Gulf Stream can have relatively sharp boundaries since they are generally higher than their surroundings. Water expands as it warms, so warm seawater is taller than cooler water. If waves interact with these currents in a certain way, seas can become extremely rough, presenting a hazard to even the largest ships.
      “Satellite altimeters are the only reliable measurement we have of where these big currents can be,” said Deirdre Byrne, sea surface height team lead at NOAA in College Park.
      There are hundreds of floating sensors scattered about the ocean that could pick up parts of where such currents are located, but these instruments are widely dispersed and limited in the area they measure at any one time. Satellites like Sentinel-6B offer greater spatial coverage, measuring areas that aren’t regularly monitored and providing essential information for the forecasts that ships need.
      Consistency is key
      Sentinel-6B won’t just help marine weather forecasts through its near-real-time data, though. It will also extend a long-term dataset featuring more than 30 years of sea level measurements, just as Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich does today.
      “Since 1992, we have launched a series of satellites that have provided consistent sea level observations from the same orbit in space. This continuity allows each new mission to be calibrated against its predecessors, providing measurements with centimeter-level accuracy that don’t drift over time,” said Severine Fournier, Sentinel-6B deputy project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.  
      This long-running, repeated measurement has turned this dataset into the gold standard sea level measurement from space — a reference against which data from other sea level satellites is checked. It also serves as a baseline, giving forecasters a way to tell what ocean conditions have looked like over time and how they are changing now. “This kind of data can’t be easily replaced,” said Mehra.
      More about Sentinel-6B
      Sentinel-6/Jason-CS was jointly developed by ESA, EUMETSAT, NASA, and NOAA, with funding support from the European Commission and technical support from CNES.
      A division of Caltech in Pasadena, JPL contributed three science instruments for each Sentinel-6 satellite: the Advanced Microwave Radiometer, the Global Navigation Satellite System – Radio Occultation, and the Laser Retroreflector Array. NASA is also contributing launch services, ground systems supporting operation of the NASA science instruments, the science data processors for two of these instruments, and support for the U.S. members of the international Ocean Surface Topography and Sentinel-6 science teams.
      For more about Sentinel-6/Jason-CS, visit:
      https://sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/jason-cs-sentinel-6
      News Media Contacts
      Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang
      Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
      626-491-1943 / 626-379-6874
      jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov / andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov
      2025-116
      Share
      Details
      Last Updated Sep 11, 2025 Related Terms
      Sentinel-6B Jason-CS (Continuity of Service) / Sentinel-6 Jet Propulsion Laboratory Oceans Weather and Atmospheric Dynamics Explore More
      6 min read NASA Marsquake Data Reveals Lumpy Nature of Red Planet’s Interior
      Article 2 weeks ago 4 min read NASA: Ceres May Have Had Long-Standing Energy to Fuel Habitability
      Article 3 weeks ago 4 min read NASA’s Psyche Captures Images of Earth, Moon
      Article 3 weeks ago Keep Exploring Discover Related Topics
      Missions
      Humans in Space
      Climate Change
      Solar System
      View the full article
  • Check out these Videos

×
×
  • Create New...