Atlas V to Launch GOES-S

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is set to launch NOAA's GOES-S Geostationary Weather Satellite during a two-hour launch window on March 1st, 2018 to complete the two-satellite GOES System watching over the western hemisphere. Flying in its beefed up 541 version with four boosters and wide payload fairing, Atlas V will take the 5,200-Kilogram satellite into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit in an ascent mission lasting three hours and 32 minutes.

GOES-S is a state of the art meteorological satellites outfitted with six instruments to capture data on Earth's surface, oceans and atmosphere as well as solar activity and space weather - delivering a full picture to assess and predict potentially hazardous events that can affect lives on Earth. Its launch follows the 2016 launch of GOES-R that ushered in a new era in U.S. weather forecasting and has already proven its worth during the 2017 hurricane season.