An early evening launch at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was a success for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
GOES-S, the latest in the GOES weather satellite constellation, was successfully sent toward an eventual geo-stationary orbit, thanks to a ride into space from an Atlas V launch vehicle.
The satellite is of the same generation as the GOES-R, which is already on station.
The entire GOES series of satellites provides overlapping and redundant coverage of the development of weather systems globally.
Weather officials, including those with the National Hurricane Center, say the satellites provide them with detailed information about emergent storms and are a critical part of the overall work to study and better predict storm formation and intensity.
The satellites are also adding to the accuracy of predictive models which can help determine the track of storms, be they winter storms or summer hurricanes.