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GOES 19 Testing and Transition to Operations

GOES-19 Post-Launch Testing and Transition to Operations

GOES-U launched on June 25, 2024, and was renamed GOES-19 upon reaching geostationary orbit on July 7, 2024.

GOES-19 arrived at its checkout location of 89.5 degrees west longitude on July 18, 2024, and began post-launch testing (PLT) on July 24. The test campaign ensured that spacecraft subsystems and instrument payloads are calibrated to meet mission performance requirements.

NASA handed GOES-19 over to NOAA on Jan. 29, 2025. NOAA continued checkout of the satellite data products before drifting GOES-19 to its operational location of 75.2 degrees west longitude. On April 7, 2025, GOES-19 replaced GOES-16 as NOAA's operational GOES East satellite. GOES-16 will become the on-orbit standby.

GOES-East Transition Plan for Operationalization of GOES-19

Details as of April 3, 2025
Please Note: The following dates are subject to change based on launch, on-orbit checkout activities, and operational needs.

COLOR KEY: GOES-East Operational Satellite

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Date (Based on 6/25/24 Launch) GOES-16 GOES-19
Date Location Activity Location Activity
6/25/24 – 7/24/24 75.2°W GOES-East Operations Launch and Orbit Raising
7/25/24 – 1/25/25 89.5°W GOES-19 PLT and PLPT
  • First public ABI Image (Vis & IR) @ 89.5°W
  • GRB turned on and L1b added upon beta maturity
1/28/25       GOES-19 Handover Readiness Review (HRR)  
1/29/25       GOES-19 Handover to NOAA
1/29/25 – 3/17/25       GOES-19 Pre-Drift Product Checkout 
 3/18/25       GOES-19 Yaw Flip 
 3/21/25 – 4/1/25   GOES-16 “nudge“ to 75.5°W   GOES-19 Drift from 89.5°W to 75.2°W  
  • ~1 deg/day drift
  • GRB Off for drift
 4/1/25 75.5°W   GOES-16 in co-location configuration 
  • X-Band and S-Band downlinks on for colocation  
 75.2°W   GOES-19 arrives at 75.2°W and instruments resume
  • X-Band and L-Band downlinks on after drift for colocation
 4/1/25 – 4/7/25   GOES-16 in co-location configuration 
  • X-Band and S-Band downlinks on  
   GOES-19 Post-Drift Product Checkout at new location  
  • X-Band and L-Band downlinks on 
 4/3/25       GOES-19 Operational Transition Readiness Review (OTRR)  
 4/7/25   X-band downlink off and instruments shut down
  • End GOES-16 GRB Broadcast
  GOES-19 Declared operational GOES-East
  • Begin GOES-19 GRB broadcast / nominal distribution
  • SAR/DCS/HRIT/EMWIN services transitioned to GOES-19
4/7/25    Begin GOES-16 drift to 105°W  
  • Drift using LTRs
  • ~0.5 deg/day max drift rate
    
6/6/25   105°W   GOES-16 arrival at 105°W followed by storage mode  
  • GOES-17 to relocate to 89.5W (Storage Location) after GOES-16 arrival confirmed successful