GOES 7

GOES-7, known as GOES-H before becoming operational, is an American satellite. It was originally built as a weather satellite, and formed part of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. Originally built as a ground spare,[1] GOES-H was launched in 1987 due to delays with the next series of satellites. It was operated by NOAA until 1999, before being leased to Peacesat, who use it as a communications satellite.[2] As of 2009, it was operational over the Pacific Ocean, providing communications for the Pacific Islands. On April 12, 2012, the spacecraft was finally decommissioned and moved to a graveyard orbit.[3]

GOES-7
Artist's impression of a GOES-D series satellite
Mission typeWeather satellite
OperatorNOAA / NASA (1987-1999)
Peacesat (1999-2012)
COSPAR ID1987-022A
SATCAT no.17561
Mission duration3-7 years (planned)
25 years (achieved)
Spacecraft properties
BusHS-371
ManufacturerHughes
Start of mission
Launch date26 February 1987, 23:05 (1987-02-26UTC23:05Z) UTC
RocketDelta 3914
Launch siteCape Canaveral LC-17A
ContractorMcDonnell Douglas
End of mission
DisposalDecommissioned
Deactivated12 April 2012 (2012-04-13)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeGeostationary
Longitude75° West (1987-1989)
98° West (1989-1992)
112° West (1992-1995)
135° West (1995-1999)
95° West (1999)
175° West (1999-2012)
SlotGOES-EAST (1987-1989)
GOES-WEST (1995-1999)
Eccentricity0.0002306
Perigee altitude35,879 kilometres (22,294 mi)
Apogee altitude35,898 kilometres (22,306 mi)
Inclination15.09°
Period24 hours
 

Launch

GOES-H was launched aboard a McDonnell Douglas Delta 3914 rocket, flying from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.[4] The launch occurred at 23:05 GMT on 26 February 1987.[4] The launch had originally been scheduled for late 1986, but was delayed after GOES-G failed to achieve orbit.[5] It was built by Hughes Space and Communications, based on the HS-371 satellite bus,[6] and was the last of five GOES-D series satellites to be launched.[7]

Operations
GOES-7 image

Following launch, GOES-7 was positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 75° West,[8] where it underwent on-orbit testing before being activated in the GOES-EAST slot of the constellation.

Due to the loss of GOES-G, and delays in the development of the GOES-I series spacecraft, no reserve satellites were available in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After the imager on the GOES-6 satellite failed in 1989, GOES-7 was left as the only operational GOES satellite.[9] It was moved to 98° West to cover the whole of the continental United States. In 1992, Meteosat 3 was leased from Eumetsat to take over GOES-EAST operations, allowing GOES-8 to be moved 112° West. When GOES-8 entered service in 1995, it replaced Meteosat 3, and GOES-7 was moved to the GOES-WEST position at 135° West. It remained in service until its retirement from service in 1996,[10] at which time it was moved to 95° West. It was then transferred to Peacesat, and positioned at 175° West[11][12] until its final retirement and disposal in 2012.

It is the only satellite to have been operated as both GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST in the course of normal operations. GOES-10 has been used as both GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST, however its operations as GOES-EAST were as a backup during an outage of GOES-12, and the satellite was not moved to the GOES-EAST orbital position.

See also

References
  1. "International Satellite Directory - Hughes Aircraft - GOES". Flight International. 1985-01-12. p. 45.
  2. "GOES-7 Satellite". Peacesat. Archived from the original on 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  3. "NOAA retires GOES-7 after 25 years as a weather and communications satellite". NOAA News. NOAA. 2012-04-12. Retrieved 2014-06-02.
  4. McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch Log". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  5. "Atlas grounding follows Delta failure". Flight International. 1986-05-17. p. 44.
  6. Krebs, Gunter. "GOES 4, 5, 6, G, 7". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  7. Wade, Mark. "GOES". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on February 21, 2002. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  8. Sample, Sharron. "GOES-7". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2006-10-04. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  9. "GOES 'Fiasco' causes US crisis". Flight International. 1991-07-16. p. 21.
  10. "GOES-7". ESE 40th Anniversary. NASA. 1999-04-22. Archived from the original on 2006-10-04. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
  11. "GOES-7 TRANSITIONED TO HAWAII FOR USE BY PEACESAT STATION, NOAA ANNOUNCES". NOAA. 1999-06-15. Archived from the original on 2016-12-11. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
  12. "GOES-07". TSE. Retrieved 2009-06-13.

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