Background
- Alphabet label before launch (GOES-A, GOES-B)
- Numerical label after geostationary orbit achieved
(GOES-6, GOES-7)
Weight
- Liftoff: 840 kg (1851 lbs)
- On orbit: 503 kg (1108 lbs)
- End of Life (EOL), spacecraft dry weight:
400 kg (881 lbs)
Size
- Main body: 1.5 m (4.8 ft) height
2.1 m (7.0 ft) diameter
- Despun section: 2.0 m (6.7 ft) height
[section that does not spin]
Orbit
- Equatorial, Earth-synchronous orbit
Uses
- Provides continuous day and night weather observations
- Monitors weather patterns and events such as hurricanes and other severe storms
- Relays environmental data from surface collection points to a processing center
- Performs facsimile transmission of processed weather data to users (WEFAX)
- Provides low-cost direct readout services; the low resolution version is called
weather facsimile (WEFAX)
- Monitors the Earth’s magnetic field, the energetic particle flux in the vicinity of the
satellite, and x-ray emissions from the sun
Weather Facsimile (WEFAX) Description
- Uses the GOES spacecraft to relay low-resolution satellite imagery and meteoro-
logical charts to properly equipped ground stations in the Western Hemisphere
- Uses a transmission frequency (1691 MHz) in common with that of the European
Space Agency’s METEOSAT and Japan’s GMS spacecraft
- Formatted in a 240 line/minute transmission rate, WEFAX transmissions occur 24
hours a day
GOES A-H GE O S TAT I O N A RY SAT E L L I T E
