Goddard Engineering and Technology Directorate

FDF Supports GOES-U

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The GOES-U satellite is the final satellite in the GOES-R series, which serves a critical role in providing continuous coverage of the Western Hemisphere, including monitoring tropical systems in the eastern Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. The GOES-U satellite is the final satellite in the GOES-R series, which serves a critical role in providing continuous coverage of the Western Hemisphere, including monitoring tropical systems in the eastern Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

On June 26, 2024, the Flight Dynamics Facility (FDF) supported the successful launch of the GOES-U satellite. During the launch, the FDF received live telemetry from the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle, leveraging experience from previous work with SpaceX. The FDF’s support for the launch vehicle during this phase allowed for tracking of the GOES-U satellite immediately after payload fairing separation. Processing Falcon Heavy telemetry also provided the added benefit and risk mitigation by ensuring accurate knowledge of the spacecraft state immediately after separation regardless of Falcon performance.

The FDF was on-console 24×7 for a month, providing primary flight dynamics support in the form of routine navigation and definitive ephemeris generation as well as support during orbit raise maneuvers.  This support continued until NASA handed over routine operations to NOAA and the end of the on-orbit commissioning.

After handover, the FDF continues to provide acquisition data to the Direct-to-Earth (DTE) tracking network for the life of the mission and is on standby in case there are any issues with the GPS-based navigation at NOAA.

GOES-U successfully finished orbit raising activities on July 22, 2024. GOES-U was the last launch in the 4-satellite GOES-R program, and work will shift over to its follow-on program – GeoXO (Geostationary Extended Operations). FDF support for GOES-U demonstrates a value to the agency and the nation, by reducing risk to the mission and providing support for a critical weather satellite.