GOES-3 weather satellite did not go gently into that goodnight…. For over 20 years, the South Pole relied on the GOES-3 weather satellite for communication links with the outside world. However, this satellite was decommissioned in 2016 after 38 years in operation. GOES-3 was launched in 1978 aboard a Delta 2914 carrier rocket, the satellite […]

NOAA considers putting GOES-U into service sooner than planned February 8th, 2023 Solar Storms, Coronal Mass Ejections, and satellites soon facing the end of service is why the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are considering revising the schedule for its GOES geostationary weather satellite fleet. NOAA officials are discussing the possibility of moving the final […]

It looks likely that Meteor M2 permanently failed on 24 December 2022. Meteor M2 has had difficulty in the past with orientation problems and has typically recovered with help from ground engineers. However, this time this does not look to be the case. The last LRPT transmission occurred on 24 December 2022, repeated attempts to […]

Updated January 19, 2023 On 11 January 2007, China conducted an anti-satellite missile test. A China weather satellite—the FY-1C polar-orbiting satellite of the Fengyun series, at an altitude of 865 kilometers (537 mi), with a mass of 750 kilograms (1,650 lb) —was destroyed by a kinetic kill vehicle traveling at a speed of 8 km/s (18,000 mph) in the opposite direction. A Head-On Engagement attack like this has […]