Mission
Space Segment

GOES-R Series Launch Vehicles Overview

GOES-R on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, ready for launch. Credit: ULA
GOES-R on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, ready for launch. Credit: ULA

See the Road to Launch Image Gallery.

The GOES-R, GOES-S, and GOES-T launch vehicle is an Atlas V 541 expendable launch vehicle (ELV). The term expendable launch vehicle means each vehicle is only used once. The three numbers in the 541 designation signify a payload fairing, or nose cone, that is approximately 5 meters (16.4 feet) in diameter; four solid-rocket boosters fastened alongside the central common core booster; and a one-engine Centaur upper stage.

GOES-R launched aboard an Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on November 19, 2016. GOES-S also utilized an Atlas V 541 when it launched from the same location on March 1, 2018.

GOES-U will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

Prime Contractors

NASA Kennedy Space Center awarded the launch services contract for the GOES-R and GOES-S satellites to United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado, in April 2012. United Launch Alliance was awarded the GOES-T launch services contract in December 2019

On Sept. 10, 2021, NASA selected Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) to provide launch services for the GOES-U satellite.


Atlas V 541 Launch Vehicle Specifications

Atlas 5 Launch Vehicle
  • HEIGHT & PAYLOAD: 191 feet (58 meters)
  • MASS: 1.17 million pounds (531,000 kilograms)
Stage 1: Atlas V Rocket: Fuel and oxygen tanks that feed an engine for the ascent; powers spacecraft into Earth orbit.   Stage 1: Atlas V Rocket: Fuel and oxygen tanks that feed an engine for the ascent; powers spacecraft into Earth orbit.
     
Solid Rocket Motors: Used to increase engine thrust; 4 total.   Solid Rocket Motors: Used to increase engine thrust; four total.
     
Stage 2: Centaur: Fuel and oxidizer and the vehicles "brains"; fires twice, once to insert the vehicle-spacecraft stack into low Earth orbit and then again to accelerate the spacecraft out of Earth orbit and on its way towards Mars.   Stage 2: Centaur: Fuel and oxidizer and the vehicle's "brains"; fires twice, once to insert the vehicle-spacecraft stack into low Earth orbit.
     
Payload Fairing: Thin composite or nose cone to protect the spacecraft during the ascent through Earth's atmosphere.   Payload Fairing: Thin composite or nose cone to protect the spacecraft during the ascent through Earth's atmosphere.

Falcon Heavy Launch Vehicle Specification

falcon heavy rocket image

The Falcon Heavy rocket is composed of three reusable Falcon 9 nine-engine cores whose 27 Merlin engines together generate more than five million pounds of thrust at liftoff, equal to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft.

  • HEIGHT: 229.6 feet (70 meters)
  • MASS: 3,125,735 pounds (1,420,788 kilograms)
  • FAIRING: Protects satellites during delivery to LEO, GTO and beyond
  • INTERSTAGE: Composite Connects first, second stages, All-pneumatic separation
  • FIRST STAGE: Liquid oxygen and kerosene propellants, High strength aluminum-lithium alloy
  • MERLIN ENGINES: Engine-out reliability, 5,130,000 lbf of thrust at sea level, 5,548,500 lbf of thrust in vacuum
  • SECOND STAGE: In-space start capacity, Powered by one MVac engine
  • GRID FINS: Aids precision landing
  • LANDING LEGS: For landing rocket safely back on Earth after takeoff

Falcon Heavy information and image courtesy of SpaceX