GOES-M Arrives at KSC for Final Testing

The GOES-M environmental weather satellite, currently targeted for
launch July 12, 2001, arrived today by C-5 air cargo plane at the Kennedy
Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility from the manufacturing plant in Palo
Alto, Calif.

GOES-M is the fifth and final spacecraft to be launched in the
current advanced series of geostationary environmental weather satellites
for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The
spacecraft is a three-axis inertial stabilized weather satellite that has
the dual capability of providing pictures while performing Earth atmospheric
soundings at the same time. A suite of space weather environment monitoring
instruments, including a new solar x-ray imager, will also be aboard the
satellite. Once in orbit GOES-M is to be designated GOES-12 and will
complete checkout in time for the most active portion of the 2001 hurricane
season.

The satellite is being transported today to Astrotech in Titusville,
Fla., where final testing of the imaging system, instrumentation,
communications and power systems will be performed. These tests will take
approximately two months to complete. Then the spacecraft will be fueled
with propellant for the attitude control system, encapsulated in the nose
fairing and prepared for transport to the launch pad. The Lockheed Martin
Atlas II booster and its Centaur upper stage, AC-142, are scheduled to
arrive at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in late May to begin erection at
Space Launch Complex 36.

The GOES-M satellite was built for NASA and NOAA by Space Systems/LORAL of
Palo Alto, Calif. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., is
responsible for the procurement of the GOES satellites for NOAA including
final testing in Florida and the initial on-orbit checkout. NOAA is
responsible for satellite operation, data distribution and management of the
program.

As a government civil launch, Kennedy Space Center is responsible
for the launch services management that includes NASA oversight of the
launch vehicle processing activities, integration of the GOES-M spacecraft
with the Atlas II and management of the government role in the launch
countdown activities. Lockheed Martin of Denver, Co., is under contract to
NASA-KSC to provide the launch services.

GOES satellite images are available on the web at http://www.goes.noaa.gov.