An artist's illustration of GOES weather satellite in orbit. Photo: NOAA

The GOES-M environmental weather satellite, currently targeted for launch July 12, 2001, arrived Tuesday by C-5 air cargo plane at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility from the manufacturing plant in Palo Alto, Calif.

GOES-M is the fifth and final spacecraft to be launched in the current advanced series of geostationary environmental weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The spacecraft is a three-axis inertial stabilized weather satellite that has the dual capability of providing pictures while performing Earth atmospheric soundings at the same time. A suite of space weather environment monitoring instruments, including a new solar x-ray imager, will also be aboard the satellite. Once in orbit GOES-M is to be designated GOES-12 and will complete checkout in time for the most active portion of the 2001 hurricane season.

An artist's concept of a GOES satellite in space. Photo: NASA/GSFC

The satellite is being transported to Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., where final testing of the imaging system, instrumentation, communications and power systems will be performed. These tests will take approximately two months to complete. Then the spacecraft will be fueled with propellant for the attitude control system, encapsulated in the nose fairing and prepared for transport to the launch pad. The Lockheed Martin Atlas 2 booster and its Centaur upper stage, AC-142, are scheduled to arrive at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in late May to begin erection at Space Launch Complex 36.

The GOES-M satellite was built for NASA and NOAA by Space Systems/LORAL of Palo Alto, Calif. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., is responsible for the procurement of the GOES satellites for NOAA including final testing in Florida and the initial on-orbit checkout. NOAA is responsible for satellite operation, data distribution and management of the program.

As a government civil launch, Kennedy Space Center is responsible for the launch services management that includes NASA oversight of the launch vehicle processing activities, integration of the GOES-M spacecraft with the Atlas II and management of the government role in the launch countdown activities. Lockheed Martin of Denver, Co., is under contract to NASA-KSC to provide the launch services.