Environmental Satellite to Be Burned in Space

WASHINGTON, DC, May 5, 2004 (ENS) - Today the eighth satellite in the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) series will be boosted into a higher orbit than the one on which it has circled the Earth since 1994 and officially burned up.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) GOES-8 had been in operation until 2003, when it was put into an orbital storage mode and replaced by GOES-12.

GOES-8 was positioned to give clear views of the eastern and central United States, the Atlantic Ocean, Carribean and Gulf of Mexico, where dangerous tropical cyclones emerge.

It tracked some of the most memorable tropical cyclones on record including the famous parade of storms in 1995, when five tropical cyclones were active in the Atlantic at the same time. One of them was the deadly Hurricane Mitch, which devastated parts of Central America in 1998.

“GOES-8 has served America well as our eye above the storm,” said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “During the 10 years GOES-8 was operational, our tropical and severe weather forecasts improved. That was key to saving lives in the face of potentially deadly conditions.”

But a new replacement is already being assembled and tested. The first satellite in the next series of GOES spacecraft (GOES-N, -O, -P) is set for launch in December 2004, and will possess more capabilities. The satellites will use star trackers instead of Earth sensors for altitude control, resulting in more accurate images.

“With the help of our partners, NOAA is creating better satellites that will provide better data to improve our understanding and prediction of climate and weather,” said Gregory Withee, assistant administrator of the NOAA Satellites and Information Service.

According to the Director of the National Weather Service retired Air Force Brig. Gen. David Johnson, GOES spacecraft are critical components in the highly integrated weather, water and climate observation system.

“GOES-8 has provided volumes of data to validate and enhance ground, ocean and atmospheric based climate, weather and water information - data critical to supporting our primary mission of saving lives and protecting property,” Johnson said.

“GOES-8’s successors will provide the NWS with even more valuable data to improve not only the accuracy of our forecasts but also our ability to provide holistic analysis of our Earth’s environment," he said.

An even more advanced version of GOES, the GOES-R series, will be the focus of a four day conference in Broomfield, Colorado May 10 to 13. The first launch is planned for 2012 and will scan the Earth nearly five times faster than the current GOES system, and provide about 50 times the amount of data currently available.