ULA Atlas V launches NASA’s GOES Weather Satellite
United Launch Alliance (ULA) has launched the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-T advanced weather satellite for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). GOES-T launched on an Atlas V 541 from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). The launch took place on March 1, 2022, at 4:38 PM EST (21:38 UTC).
GOES-T is the third satellite in the GOES-R satellite series, the 19th overall GOES satellite, and the second Atlas V launch of 2022. Following the launch, GOES-T will become GOES-18 and will be stationed in the GOES-West position, replacing GOES-17.
The Centaur upper stage deployed its payload, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) T, more than three and a half hours later into a geostationary transfer orbit. The Centaur performed three burns to place the spacecraft in a transfer orbit with a higher perigee, in this case nearly 8,900 kilometers, than a typical geostationary transfer orbit. That is intended to shorten the time and reduce the propellant needed to reach geostationary orbit.
“We do that final third burn to just get them right where they want to be,” Scott Messer, program manager for NASA launch services at ULA, said at a Feb. 26 briefing.
Atlas V Overview:
Atlas V is a two-stage liquid-fueled rocket. The first stage booster is a single-engine stage utilizing a Russian-built RD-180 engine. The RD-180 generates 3,828 kN of thrust with a specific impulse of 337 seconds. This stage is 32.5 meters in length, 3.81 meters in diameter, uses RP-1/LOX, and burns for about four minutes.
For the initial part of the flight, the first stage can support up to five GEM-63 solid rocket boosters. These boosters, first introduced on the NROL-101 mission in November 2020, are manufactured by Northrop Grumman and are smaller versions of the GEM-63XL boosters set to launch on Vulcan. Each booster generates 1,652 kN and burns for about 94 seconds. This mission will use four boosters.
CENTAUR UPPER STAGE:
The Second Stage is the Centaur Upper Stage , a hallmark of the Atlas family that was first used in 1962.Since then, the Centaur has evolved into the Common Centaur used today. To power the stage, an Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C-1 engine is used to place its payload(s) into its final orbit. The RL10 engine is historic, having been used over several generations of rocket families and has been produced over 500 times.
The RL10C-1 uses Hydrolox combination to generate 101.8 kilonewtons of thrust with a specific impulse of 449 seconds. Centaur is also where the Atlas V rocket’s avionics systems are housed. Centaur is 3.05 meters in diameter and 12.6 meters in length. So far the launch and the deployment of the GOES satellite was successful the legacy of Atlas V continues.
