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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.

A launch vehicle is chosen based on how much mass the vehicle can lift into space. A two-stage Atlas V 541 launch vehicle was selected for the GOES-R, S, and T launches because it has the right liftoff capability for the heavy weight requirements.

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

  • Height and Payload: 191 feet (58 meters)
  • Mass: 1.17 million pounds (531,000 kilograms)
Launch Vehicle
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.