NASA has announced it will launch NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-N on Wednesday, May 24. GOES-N, designed to provide faster environmental and weather information to meteorologists and the public, is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The launch window is from 6:11 to 7:11 p.m. Eastern Time. NASA TV will carry the launch live.
GOES-N joins a system of weather satellites that can graphically display the intensity, path and size of storms early enough to enhance the public's ability to take shelter and protect property.
GOES-N will be launched atop a Boeing Delta IV rocket under a commercial license with the Federal Aviation Administration. The satellite will be turned over to NASA after Boeing, its builder, completes in-orbit checkout.
NOAA manages the GOES program, establishes requirements, provides all funding and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., procures and manages the development and launch of the satellites for NOAA on a cost-reimbursable basis.
