GOES-19

GOES-19 is the newest geostationary weather satellite in NOAA's GOES-R series, launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy on 25 June 2024 and designated GOES-19 upon reaching geostationary orbit in July 2024. It became operational as GOES East on 7 April 2025, replacing GOES-16 at 75.2 degrees west longitude, roughly 35,888 km above the equator. From that position it watches over the Americas and The Atlantic, delivering high-resolution imagery and real-time lightning mapping used by weather forecasters across two continents.

What sets GOES-19 apart from its predecessors is the addition of NOAA's first compact coronagraph instrument (CCOR-1), which images the Sun's outer corona to detect coronal mass ejections (CMEs) up to three hours earlier than was previously possible. Combined with its suite of energetic particle and magnetic field sensors, GOES-19 is now the primary Space weather sentinel for the Western Hemisphere, feeding data to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.

For the Artemis II mission, GOES-19 is a critical link in the radiation alert chain. The satellite's particle detectors registered the elevated electron flux event that triggered an operations review while the crew coasted without the protection of Earth's magnetosphere. Its real-time solar wind and particle data flow directly to SRAG at Johnson Space Center, giving flight controllers early warning of potentially hazardous space weather.