Hurricane satellite launched ahead of storm season

Wednesday's launch from Cape Canaveral

May 3, 2000
Web posted at: 11:48 AM EDT (1548 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- With the hurricane season on the horizon, NASA launched a sophisticated weather satellite on Wednesday designed to track hurricanes, thunderstorms and floods.

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) launched before dawn from Cape Canaveral, Florida, following a yearlong delay due to engine problems.

The $220 million orbiter will back up a pair of aging GOES storm trackers that beam down images appearing on televised weather broadcasts across the United States each day.

Two GOES satellites currently operate in geostationary orbit above the equator. One overlooks the West Coast, the other the East Coast.

The duo are a "mainstay of weather forecasting in the United States," said Gerry Dittberner of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

But the weather-watching stalwarts, designed to last five years, are showing signs of mortality. One GOES satellite launched in 1994 has switched to a backup system after its primary one malfunctioned, said NOAA spokeswoman Pat Viets. The other working satellite, which watches the West Coast, is three years old.

A third one that launched in 1995 has been shut down because of technical troubles. "It could be reactivated in an emergency," Viets said.

Last week, NASA considered bumping this launch so space shuttle managers could make another quick try at sending Atlantis and seven astronauts on a repair mission to the International Space Station.

But the agency's top space flight official decided the weather satellite was more important, given that the Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1 and is expected to be especially active.

The new GOES satellite should reach a 22,300-mile-high orbit in two weeks. If necessary, it could be ready for action by July. As for the thrice-delayed Atlantis, launch is off until May 18.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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