NOAA official announcements and weather forecasting reports

SpaceX Falcon Heavy's 10th Flight Successfully Launches GOES-U Weather Satellite, Achieves Twin Booster Landing

Jun 27, 2024, 02:00 AM

SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon Heavy rocket on June 25, 2024, marking its 10th flight. The mission carried the GOES-U satellite, the fourth and final satellite in NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites -R Series, into space. The launch took place at 5:26 PM ET from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. GOES-U, which will be renamed GOES-19 once it reaches geostationary orbit, is part of the Western Hemisphere’s most sophisticated weather-observing and environmental monitoring system. The Falcon Heavy's twin boosters successfully landed at Landing Zones 1 and 2. The satellite and the Falcon Heavy upper stage were tracked in a 16,000 x 35,240 km x 4.4 deg transfer orbit. Photographer Ken Kremer captured incredible photos of the liftoff, and the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility team in Suitland, Maryland, played a crucial role in the mission.