The newest and most advanced weather satellite, GOES-U, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center last week. It is the 4th and final installment of the GOES-R series of geostationary weather satellites. Since 2016, the GOES-R series has been our eyes in the sky, monitoring weather conditions 24/7. These satellites have revolutionized how we track and predict severe weather, hurricanes, wildfires, and even space weather. One of the standout new features of GOES-U is the Compact Coronagraph. Bill Line, a research meteorologist with NOAA’s Satellite Meteorology and Climatology Division explains what this new instrument will be able to do. “This instrument is actually monitoring the outer layer of the Sun and it’s able to detect features called coronal mass ejections,” explains Line. Coronal mass ejections or CMEs are when the sun shoots out a huge wave of charged particles. When those particles collide with Earth’s magnetic field, they create the beautiful colors of the northern lights…but can also cause big issues here on earth.. “These features can actually cause detrimental impacts on the Earth’s power grid and communication satellites…with this new instrument we will be able to get early warning of these features so that we can mitigate their impacts on Earth,” said Line. The high resolution images GOES-U will offer a huge advantage for meteorologists tracking and responding to severe weather threats we see often here in the Carolinas. Line explains further, “GOES-U can actually monitor a region larger than the size of the Carolinas every 30 seconds. This allows us to see storms as they’re developing in real time, which allows them to get warnings and alerts out to the public as soon as possible.” Real time data like lightning detection will help meteorologists pinpoint which storms are intensifying, before they produce damaging wind, hail or tornadoes. When asked what Line is most excited to see with this new satellite he said, “It’s amazing all the innovation scientists are doing with the data from these satellites. I’m really excited to see that innovation continue….we’re using the satellite information and machine learning models to be able to better predict things like where’s lightning going to strike, where is the severe storm going to develop, and even where are wildfires developing,” Researchers are hopeful data collected from GOES-U they will not only be able to forecast severe weather with greater accuracy, but also provide people with hours – not just minutes of warning to prepare in the future. It will take another week for GOES-U to reach orbit. Once operational it will be known as GOES-19. Scientists are already working on the next GOES series – GEO-XO – which will launch around 2032.