Lockheed Martin has completed the assembly of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s GOES-S weather satellite, the company said Tuesday.
Mechanical and environmental testing of the spacecraft will follow.
GOES-S is the second of four next-generation geostationary weather satellites in the GOES-R series. It will provide improved weather observation capabilities leading to more accurate and timely forecasts, watches, and warnings.
The GOES-S satellite’s environmental testing will simulate conditions of a launch and the extreme environment the satellite will experience in space. It recently completed a reverberant acoustics test and sine vibration test, both designed to expose the satellite to the sound and vibrations of a ULA Atlas V 541 rocket launch.
“Mechanical and environmental testing is an important time for the program,” said Tim Gasparrini, vice president and GOES-R Series program manager at Lockheed Martin Space Systems.
“This period validates the satellite’s overall design, assembly workmanship, and survivability during launch and on-orbit operation in the cold vacuum of space.”
The first satellite in the series, the GOES-R, was launched Nov. 19 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Now in orbit, the NOAA officially changed its name to GOES-16.
Satellites in the new series will provide higher-resolution images of weather patterns and severe storms five times faster than the previously available technology. This will provide more accurate and reliable weather forecasts and severe weather outlooks.
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