NOAA’s GOES-19 satellite is now operational, providing critical new data

NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) are located roughly 36,000 km above the earth, directly over the equator. These satellites revolve at the same speed and direction as the Earth, capturing many images of the same locations each day.

Satellites are remote sensors that help meteorologists track the movement of weather systems and determine cloud types and other key features needed for forecasting. This year marks 50 years since the launch of the first GOES satellite.

GOES-R Series Provides Crucial Data

According to NOAA, the GOES-R Series is “the Western Hemisphere’s most sophisticated weather-observing and environmental-monitoring system.” The GOES-R series has been providing advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements, real-time mapping of lightning activity, and helping with the monitoring of space weather since the launch of GOES-16 in 2016.

Each satellite launched has had new capabilities and replaced an older satellite. There are always two operational GOES satellites, GOES East and West. The pair watch over more than half the globe — from the west coast of Africa to New Zealand and from near the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic Circle. Their data supports weather forecasters, emergency managers, first responders, and many others.

The GOES-R Series Program is a four-satellite mission and a collaborative effort between NOAA and NASA. NASA builds and launches the satellites, and NOAA operates the satellites and distributes their data. This includes GOES-R (GOES-16, launched in 2016), GOES-S (GOES-17, launched in 2018), GOES-T (GOES-18, launched in 2022), and GOES-U (GOES-19). GOES-18 is currently NOAA’s operational GOES West satellite.

GOES-19 Becomes Operational

GOES-19 was launched on June 25, 2024, as the latest and final satellite in the GOES-R Series. After post-launch testing of its instruments, systems, and data, the satellite became operational as GOES East on Monday, April 7, 2025. It has been sending preliminary imagery and data since September 2024.

Replacing GOES-16 as GOES East, GOES-19 is positioned 22,236 miles above the equator at 75.2 degrees west longitude. GOES-16 will now become a backup satellite, maintaining its operational readiness for future use if needed.

“With GOES-19 now in operation, NOAA has delivered the full fleet of GOES-R satellites to orbit, providing the most sophisticated technology ever flown in space to help forecast weather on Earth,” said Stephen Volz, Ph.D., assistant administrator for NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service. “GOES-19 supports NOAA’s mission to provide secure and timely access to global environmental data and information to promote and protect the nation’s security, environment, economy, and quality of life.”

Key Features of GOES-19

Serving as NOAA’s primary geostationary satellite for much of the Western Hemisphere, GOES-19 will track hurricanes and tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean basin. It will also monitor severe weather, atmospheric rivers, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and other environmental events that affect the United States.

Like its predecessors in the GOES-R Series, GOES-19 delivers high-resolution visible and infrared imagery, atmospheric measurements, and real-time mapping of lightning activity. Additionally, GOES-19 is equipped with space weather instruments to monitor the sun.

New Instrument for Space Weather Prediction

One of the instruments included in GOES-19 is NOAA’s first compact coronagraph instrument (CCOR-1). According to NOAA, this instrument “images the solar corona (the outer layer of the sun’s atmosphere) to detect and characterize coronal mass ejections, which can disrupt Earth’s magnetosphere, leading to geomagnetic storms, auroras, and potential disruptions to technology, including electricity and satellite communications.”

With critical information about impending geomagnetic storm conditions, CCOR-1 will allow NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) to issue warnings 1-3 days in advance.

“CCOR-1 is a game-changer for ensuring our nation is resilient to solar storms, allowing us to monitor massive eruptions of energy from the sun in real-time,” said Clinton Wallace, director of NOAA SWPC. “With dramatically improved resolution and faster detection, it helps us better predict dangerous space weather that can impact satellites, GPS, astronaut safety, aviation, and power grids, ensuring we can protect critical technology and infrastructure like never before.”

With GOES-19 in the fleet, NOAA’s geostationary satellite constellation is set to bring significant advancements and new capabilities for environmental monitoring and deliver life-saving data into the 2030s.