At this writing (September 1998), three GOES satellites are in orbit.
GOES-8 is operational at 75 degrees West longitude as GOES-East, GOES-10 is operational at 135 degrees West as GOES-WEST, and GOES-9 is in a dormant standby mode at 105 degrees West ready for immediate, but limited, activation when needed to replace GOES-8 or GOES-10. GOES-10 was activated from storage in July 1998 when GOES-9 exhibited signs consistent with the near term failure of it's attitude-controlling momentum wheels. The next satellite, GOES-L is being prepared by Space Systems/Loral and IT for a launch in May 1999 to ensure full, two-GOES coverage of next Summer's hurricane and severe weather season and the following winter storm season in the west. GOES-M, planned for a launch in 2002, will carry the first geostationary Solar X-Ray Imager (SXI) instrument, developed by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, that will image the sun every few minutes in four X-Ray energy ranges. The first of the follow-on series, GOES N through Q, is being manufactured under new contracts awarded to Hughes Space and Communications, ITT, and Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology
Laboratories. Evolution of Imager channels is an important feature, and will be described. Planning has begun for a series of advanced Imagers with a number of additional channels and an advanced Sounder with greatly improved accuracy based on interferometer technology. Products from the new instruments will increase the number of qualitative products used by many human forecasters. Quantitative products will add to the accuracy of numerical models already using Sounder radiances from GOES-8 and GOES-10. Descriptions will be presented for all these features and other upcoming events.