WATCH REPLAY: Falcon Heavy Launch of GOES-U Satellite Shakes the Space Coast With 5.1 Million Pounds of Thrust

boosters dramatically jolted the Space Coast with duel sonic booms

ABOVE VIDEO: Watch the launch of the GOES-U weather-observing and environmental monitoring satellite on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket! The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES-U mission, the final addition to the GOES-R series, will help to prepare for two kinds of weather — Earth and space weather.

This was the first launch for all three first stage boosters supporting the mission. Following booster separation, the two side boosters landed at SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 and LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

BREVARD COUNTY • KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA – SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon Heavy carrying the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite weather satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

The two-hour launch window opened at 5:16 p.m. ET.

This was the first launch for all three first stage boosters supporting the mission.

Following booster separation, the two side boosters dramatically shook the Space Coast with duel sonic booms as the boosters landed at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

The GOES-U satellite will orbit above the Earth’s equator at approximately 35,700 km (22,236 mi) observing weather patterns in the contiguous USA, Central and South America, and Atlantic Ocean. GOES-U is part of NOAA’s most sophisticated GOES series and will assist weather forecasters and climate researchers with real-time high-resolution imagery, earlier detection of severe weather that could save lives, and tropical cyclone forecasts.

GOES-U also carries a suite of space weather instruments that will be used to detect solar storms early and help predict their possible impacts.

The GOES-U mission will be the 10th flight of Falcon Heavy, which has previously launched missions for NASA, the U.S. government, and commercial customers.

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