NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for its upcoming Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) mission.
GOES-U will provide advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s weather, oceans and environment, as well as real-time mapping of total lightning activity and improved monitoring of solar activity and space weather.
The total cost for NASA to launch GOES-U is approximately US$152.5m, which includes the launch service and other mission-related costs.
The GOES-U mission aims to launch in April 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. GOES-U is the fourth and final spacecraft in the GOES-R Series of geostationary weather satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The GOES-R Series is a joint effort between NASA and NOAA and comprises GOES-R, GOES-S, GOES-T and GOES-U.
NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for launch vehicle program management of the SpaceX launch service. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the GOES-R Flight Projects Office, which oversees the acquisition of the GOES-R series instruments and spacecraft. A collaborative NOAA and NASA team manages the GOES-R program.
