NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Program–A Status Report

GOES-11 was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral May 3, 2000 and brings the on-orbit constellation to four spacecraft. GOES-8 is more than one year beyond its expected five year life, GOES-9 is in standby as a limited capability on-orbit spare, GOES-10 is operational over the Pacific ocean, and GOES-11, after checkout, will be placed in on-orbit storage to be activated when needed to maintain a two-GOES system. The next launch, GOES-M, is planned for late summer 2001 and will carry the first Solar X-ray Imager (SXI) instrument. SXI will provide operational X-ray images of the Sun every few minutes in four X-ray energy bands. The next series, GOES N-Q, is being manufactured with the first launch planned for launch in 2002, depending in the health of the on-orbit constellation. Planning is under way for the follow-on series with a first launch in the 2008 to 2010 time frame. For the first time, GOES satellites will provide routine 5 and 15 minute images of the Earth in 8 to 12 channels and will provide numerous new products for forecasters, numerical models, and the general public. These satellite will also carry the first operational interferometer-type sounder with increased accuracy of temperature and humidity measurements at many more independent level in the atmosphere. With a seven year life instead of five years, these instruments offer a step increase in Earth observation capability. This paper will describe these features and outline plans for the future.