Following last week’s launch of a next-generation weather satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), United Launch Alliance (ULA) has shared a cool video of the mission showing its Atlas V rocket carrying the satellite into orbit.
The Atlas V rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Tuesday, March 1. The beautifully shot video (below) includes footage of the build-up to launch as well as the launch itself and features several time-lapse sequences and other eye-catching imagery.
NOAA’s new 6,000-pound GOES-18 satellite is now in orbit alongside GOES-16 and GOES-17, which were launched in 2016 and 2018, respectively.
Commenting on last week’s successful launch, NOAA administrator Rick Spinrad said: “GOES-T [now referred to as GOES-18] joins the suite of advanced technology providing critical data and imagery to forecasters and researchers tracking hazardous weather and working toward building a climate-ready nation.”
Specifically, the network of satellites is helping meteorologists predict and monitor extreme weather events such as thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes. They can also detect and follow the progression of environmental hazards that include wildfires and volcanic eruptions.
GOES-18, which was built by Lockheed Martin, will keep watch over the U.S. West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and the Pacific Ocean for at least the next 15 years.
The Atlas V rocket used for last week’s launch is a workhorse for ULA. The recent NOAA mission marked the 92nd launch for the vehicle and the 22nd mission in partnership with NASA’s Launch Services Program, which started out in 1998 to pair private companies interested in satellite deployment with launch vehicle providers such as ULA.
