GOES-5, known as GOES-E before becoming operational, was a geostationary

weather satellite A weather satellite or meteorological satellite is a type of Earth observation satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites are mainly of two types: polar orbiting (covering the entire Earth asyn ...

which was operated by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

as part of the

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), operated by the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service division, supports weather fo ...

system. Launched in 1981, it was used for

weather forecasting Weather forecasting or weather prediction is the application of science and technology forecasting, to predict the conditions of the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather info ...

in the United States. GOES-E Spac0245

GOES-5 was built by Hughes Space and Communications, and was based on the HS-371

satellite bus A satellite bus (or spacecraft bus) is the main body and structural component of a satellite or spacecraft, in which the payload and all scientific instruments are held. Bus-derived satellites are less customized than specially-produced satelli ...

. At launch it had a mass of , with an expected operational lifespan of around seven years. GOES-E was launched using a Delta 3914 carrier rocket flying from Launch Complex 17A at the

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the sta ...

. The launch occurred at 22:29 GMT on 22 May 1981. The launch successfully placed GOES-E into a

geostationary transfer orbit In space mission design, a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) or geosynchronous transfer orbit is a highly elliptical type of geocentric orbit, usually with a perigee as low as low Earth orbit (LEO) and an apogee as high as geostationary orbit ...

, from which it raised itself to geostationary orbit on 2 June by means of an onboard Star 27 apogee motor. Following insertion into geostationary orbit, GOES-5 was briefly placed at a

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...

85° West, however by the end of 1981, it had been moved to 75° West. It remained there until 1987, when it was moved to 106° West. In 1988 it was relocated to 65° West, where it operated until 1989. The primary instrument carried aboard GOES-5, the Visible Infrared Spin-Scan Radiometer or VISSR, failed in 1984. The

GOES-1 GOES-1, designated GOES-A and SMS-C prior to entering service, was a weather satellite, developed by the NASA, operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It was the first Geostationary Operational Envir ...

and GOES-4 satellites were reactivated to fill the gap in coverage until a replacement could be launched. It was finally replaced by the

ground spare Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the solid terrestrial surface of the Earth * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical circ ...

, GOES-H, in 1987 after its intended replacement,

GOES-G GOES-G was a weather satellite to be operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The satellite was designed to sense and monitor meteorological conditions from a geostationary orbit, intended to replace GOES-5 and provide c ...

, failed to reach orbit. GOES-5 was retired to a

graveyard orbit A graveyard orbit, also called a junk orbit or disposal orbit, is an Orbit (physics), orbit that lies away from common operational orbits. One significant graveyard orbit is a supersynchronous orbit well beyond geosynchronous orbit. Some satellit ...

on 18 July 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:GOES-5 Spacecraft launched in 1981 Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites

See also

References