The U.S. Space Force has taken ownership of a second decommissioned National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather satellite to fill gaps in the U.S. military’s coverage. NOAA’s geostationary operational environmental satellite, known as GOES-15 and first launched in 2011, will be available to the Space Force to expand weather coverage of the Indian Ocean region over the next several years, the Space Force announced Sept. 22. transferred.

As part of a partnership between the Department of the Air Force and NOAA, the Space Force is using the remaining GOES satellites to collect cloud imagery and other weather data in the Indian Ocean region. The military needs accurate weather data to plan operations in the air, on land and at sea.

The first transfer occurred in 2020, when the Space Force redeployed GOES-13, which NOAA launched in 2006 and retired in 2018, to the EWS-G1 electro-optical infrared geostationary weather system. Based on remaining fuel estimates, the EWS-G1 is expected to end its life in February 2024.

A second NOAA satellite to fill the gap

The GOES-15 transmission, called EWS-G2, will provide continuous coverage, the Space Force said. NOAA was able to transfer GOES-15 to the military after the new GOES-18 became operational and Congress approved the transfer.

“As the Space Force explores long-term solutions to permanently provide weather coverage in the region after 2030, the service needs a replacement for EWS-G1,” said Lt. Col. Joseph Maguadog, Space Systems Command EO/IR weather chief. The message says system software office.

The Space Force is evaluating prototype weather satellite concepts to replace aging DMSP weather satellites under a program called EWS, short for Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) Weather Systems.

“Reusing GOES-15 and NOAA’s remaining ground equipment enabled the mission to be completed at a fraction of the cost of purchasing an entirely new system,” Maguadog said. said.

GOES-15 is currently drifting towards the Indian Ocean region and is expected to reach its designated orbit in November. The satellite was in a geostationary orbit over the Pacific Ocean, 22,300 miles above the equator, halfway between Hawaii and the West Coast.

EWS-G2 will continue to use the existing ground station in Western Australia, which was established in 2020 to support the EWS-G mission. As with EWS-G1, NOAA will operate EWS-G2 on behalf of the Space Force from NOAA’s Satellite Operations Center in Suitland, Maryland, and the Wallops Command and Data Acquisition Station in Wallops Island, Virginia. Source