1. NOAA Satellite and Information Service GOES Constellation Status
Chris Wheeler
GOES Team Lead
Office of Satellite Operations
National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service

2. Agenda GOES On-Orbit Configuration On-Orbit Configuration
GOES Spacecraft Overview
GOES Spacecraft Status
GOES-10 Decommission Plan
GOES East Transition
Imager Stray Light Effects
GVAR Changes for GOES-14 and GOES-15

3. GOES On-Orbit Configuration Current as of 11/2/09
Launched: 4/1997
Located: 60°W
South America
Launched: 5/2000
Located: 135°W
GOES-WEST
Launched: 7/2001
Located: 75°W
GOES-EAST
Launched: 5/2006
Located: 105°W
SPARE
Launched: 6/2009
Located: 89.5°W
Post-Launch Test

4. GOES Spacecraft Overview
GOES I-M Series:
Built by Space Systems / Loral in Palo Alto, CA
Based on Loral 1300 bus series
Design Life: 5yrs
GOES N-P Series:
Built by Boeing Satellite Systems in El Segundo, CA
Based on Boeing 601 series
Design Life: 10yrs (bus) / 5yrs (instruments)

5. Key Differences between GOES I-M and GOES N-P
Enhancement
Earth Sensor Attitude Determination
Star Tracker Attitude Determination
Star Trackers more accurate, less noisy, not immune to diurnal/seasonal thermal variations
Simplifies INR Operations, reduces image outage times
Improved INR performance
Includes Solar Sail
Eliminates Solar Sail
Elimination of solar sail reduces instrument cooler backloading
Improves detector performance
Ground-based image schedule
Flight-based image schedule
On-board schedule protects against intermittent uplink outages
Analog WEFAX
Digital LRIT
Analog to digital conversion
2 x 12 Amp-hour, NiCd batteries
123 Ah NiMH battery
GOES N-P design supports full operations during eclipse

6. GOES Spacecraft Status

7. GOES-O/14 Status Launched June 27, 2009
Currently in on-orbit test at 89.5°W
All systems operating nominally
MAGPD Telescope 5 noisy detector
Drift to 105°W planned for 11/4/09 – 11/20/09
NOAA Science Test planned for 11/30/09 – 1/4/10
Plan to continue operating XRS while in earth-pointed “storage”

8. GOES-N/13 Status Solar X-Ray Imager CCD detector partial
Launch Date: May 24, 2006
Orbital Location: 105°W longitude
Designation: On-Orbit Spare
Solar X-Ray Imager CCD detector partial
damage during X9 solar flare and cosmic
particle hit.
N2 thruster anomalous thrust level.
Thruster use restricted. No user impact.
XRS capacitor short

9. GOES-M/12 Status Energetic Particle Sensor (EPS) channels noisy.
Launch Date: July 23, 2001
Orbital Location: 75°W longitude
Designation: Operational East
Energetic Particle Sensor (EPS) channels
noisy.
X-ray positioner electronics failed. XRS
cannot track Sun.
Solar X-Ray Imager high voltage power
supply failed.
Thruster 2B oxidizer valve leak. “B” side
thrusters isolated.

10. GOES-L/11 Status X-ray positioner electronics failed. XRS
Launch Date: May 3, 2000
Orbital Location: 135°W longitude
Designation: Operational West
X-ray positioner electronics failed. XRS
cannot track Sun.
Reduced battery 1 capacity. Potential impact to
user services during eclipse
Imager/Sounder primary sensor data transmitter
failed. Switched to redundant transmitter
Command receiver B failed; Receiver A
operating nominally

11. GOES-K/10 Status Sounder Filter Wheel stalled
Launch Date: April 25, 1997
Orbital Location: 60°W longitude
Designation: Operational Atlantic/South America
Sounder Filter Wheel stalled
Energetic Particle Sensor (EPS) channels
noisy.
No fuel remaining for stationkeeping
Solar array forward mode failed. Spacecraft
Inverted and solar array run in reverse.
Data Collection Platform Interrogate (DCPI)
Primary transmitter failed. Switched to
Redundant transmitter.

12. GOES-10 Decommission Plan
GOES-10 has reached end of fuel life
Remaining fuel reserved for de-orbit maneuvers
De-commission activities scheduled for December 1-2, 2009
GOES-10 instruments and communication services will be de-activated Dec. 1 at approx. 12:30z (7:30am EST)
Dedicated South America imaging operations will be interrupted
Series of maneuvers will be performed to boost GOES km above geosynchronous orbit
De-commission objectives:
Boost orbit 300km above geosynchronous altitude
Deplete remaining fuel
Power off electro-mechanical systems
Disable battery charging
Turn off all transmitters to prevent RF interference
Following decommission, GOES-10 is not recoverable

13. South America Coverage
NOAA/NESDIS operating GOES-10 at 60 degrees West since December 2006.
Provides continuous GOES coverage of South America during GOES EAST rapid scan operations.
Positive impact to South American severe storm and flash flood forecast and warnings.
GOES-10 at end of fuel life and must be de-orbited.
NOAA has received requests to continue South American support through multiple international organizations.
NESDIS recommendation to utilize GOES-12 for South America coverage by June 2010
Can provide dedicated South America coverage in time for the North Atlantic hurricane season
GOES-12 east-west fuel available for 3 years of operation
No fuel remaining for inclination control
Awaiting approval from NOAA Headquarters

14. Proposed GOES East Transition
Draft
Proposed GOES East Transition
GOES-13 replaces GOES-12 in April 2010
Minimum impact to GOES constellation fly-out scenarios
Goal is to complete transition prior to 2010 hurricane season
Similar sequence to GOES-8/12 transition
Provides significant test period for OSDPD and direct users to evaluate ingest systems
Does not require users to re-point antenna systems during drift period
Incorporates a single GVAR switch from GOES-12 to GOES-13
If approved, GOES-12 would be available for South America coverage beginning in May 2010
GOES-12 Drift from 75 to 60
GOES-13 Drift from 105 to 75

15. GOES East Transition Timeline
1/19 GOES-13 Return to Normal Mode
Imager, Sounder, SEM activated
SXI remains off
1/21 Image Navigation Start-up (4 days)
1/25 Begin GOES-13 execution of GOES East Schedule
2/9 Perform GOES-13 Annual inclination maneuver
2/17 Conduct GOES-13 Operations Readiness Review
2/23 Start GOES-13 Eastward Drift from 105°W to 75°W
3/8 Near 99°W; Activate GOES-13 SXI/MDL
4/14 Near 81°W; GOES-13 becomes GOES-East
Stop GOES-12 GVAR
GOES-13 GVAR relayed through GOES-12
Users do not re-point antenna
4/26 Stop GOES-13 Drift at 75°W
GOES-13 GVAR relayed through GOES-13
Switch ancillary COMM services from GOES-12 to GOES-13

16. Imager Stray Light Effects
GOES I-M series instruments had a solar keep-out-zone restriction when the sun was < 7° from scan frame
Imager/Sounder frames cancelled to prevent overheating of the secondary mirror assemblies
GOES N-P instrument modifications eliminate solar keep-out-zone effects
GOES N-P design allows for continuous imaging operations through eclipse
Verified through post-launch testing and GOES-13 operational periods
However…..
Solar stray light contamination is observed when the sun is <10-15 degrees from the image frame.
Comparative tests performed on GOES in April 2009 show that stray light performance is the same for GOES 11-13
Subsequent testing on GOES-14 during Fall 2009 eclipse season show similar performance on GOES-14

17. Imager Stray Light Mitigation
Why not scan away from contaminated data?
Options include:
Take all images regardless of Sun position. Let users decide which images to use
Considered undesirable
Cancel image when the Sun is close to the frame boundary
Re-introduces keep-out-zone
Results in a lot of frame cancellations
Undesirable
Scan away from the Sun
Scan partial or shifted frames
Short-term approach
Apply an L1b algorithmic correction to remove stray light prior to GVAR broadcast
NASA/NOAA/ITT study underway
Long-Term approach
Original Image
Corrected Image
See poster presentation
for more info

18. GVAR Changes for GOES-O/P
Background
GOES-O/P Imagers have additional 8th IR detector
Imager factory coefficients (including instrument nadir positions) previously copied from Block 0 to Block 11 for GOES-12 and beyond
Beginning with GOES-O, factory coefficients were removed from Block 0.
Issues
Instrument offsets are important for image navigation
Block 11 is transmitted infrequently
User ingest systems were not updated to reflect GVAR changes
Resolution
Instrument offsets are being copied back to previously spare locations in Block 0
Effective early November 2009

19. GOES Calibration Information
GOES Calibration Website
For Imagers and Sounders of current and previous operational satellites, contains up-to-date (from instrument developer)
Calibration parameters, and
Spectral response functions
Recent update for GOES-13 Imager channel-6 Spectral response functions
A shifted and current operational version approved by NOAA/NESDIS Calibration Oversight Panel (CalPOP)
Recent addition
GOES-O calibration parameters and spectral response functions
Pending addition
GOES-P calibration parameters and spectral response functions