Two hours and 29 minutes after lifting off from Florida, the GOES-R spacecraft and Centaur upper stage are performing as planned as they orbit high above Earth. There is less than one hour to go in this final coast phase before the Centaur ignites its RL10 engine one more time to place the GOES-R satellite …
Noted television meteorologist Al Roker attended today’s launch of the GOES-R spacecraft and talked with NASA TV earlier. His interest in the mission, he said, comes from the fact that the satellite will give forecasters much more information to help them with their predictions. GOES-R carries sensors that are much more advanced than previous GOES …
As the Centaur upper stage and GOES-R spacecraft continue tonight’s coast phase, take a look at liftoff earlier from Space Launch Complex 41 in Florida. Launch occurred at 6:42 p.m. EST.
The Centaur’s engine shutdown as planned to raise the orbit of the GOES-R spacecraft. The Centaur and GOES-R will remain connected through about two orbits of the Earth before the Centaur ignites its engine once more to place GOES-R in a transfer orbit. The next burn will take place at 10:09 p.m. EST. NASA’s Launch …
The Centaur’s RL10 is burning again to lift the GOES-R spacecraft higher. This burn will last about 5 1/2 minutes. Everything is proceeding as planned.
The Centaur stage will ignite its single engine again at about 7:04 p.m., or about 10 minutes after its first shutdown. The mission is going as planned with the Centaur and GOES-R orbiting at 17,650 mph.
The Centaur’s engine shut off as scheduled. The upper stage will conduct two more burns tonight to place GOES-R into a transfer orbit. The spacecraft will use its own propellant later to circularize its orbit for operations.
The Centaur upper stage and GOES-R spacecraft are performing well 10 minutes after launch. Speed is 15,000 mph.
Centaur continues to fire its engine and pick up speed. The rocket and its GOES-R payload are 970 miles down range from the launch site.
The first stage of the Atlas V spent its fuel and separated as planned. The single RL10 engine of the Centaur upper stage is now burning to lift GOES-R faster and higher. Speed is above 12,800 mph.
