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EWS-G2 (GOES 15)

GOES-15 served for years as a NOAA geostationary weather satellite before later supporting U.S. military weather operations. Its long service shows how spacecraft designed with margin and careful operations can remain useful beyond their primary mission.

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Object identity

NORAD ID
36411
COSPAR ID
2010-008A
Operator
Not listed
Country
Not listed
Launch date
Not listed

Immediate discovery

Why this satellite matters

Fuel budgeting is central to geostationary lifetime because station-keeping consumes propellant. Operators continuously trade orbital precision against remaining fuel.

Understanding the mission

Science and engineering ideas

Fuel budgeting is central to geostationary lifetime because station-keeping consumes propellant. Operators continuously trade orbital precision against remaining fuel.

Mission

Mission and purpose

Weather spacecraft carry instruments that observe Earth and its atmosphere in visible, infrared, microwave, or other wavelengths. Different orbits provide either repeated regional views or broad global coverage.

  • Fuel budgeting is central to geostationary lifetime because station-keeping consumes propellant. Operators continuously trade orbital precision against remaining fuel.

Design

Engineering

Fuel budgeting is central to geostationary lifetime because station-keeping consumes propellant. Operators continuously trade orbital precision against remaining fuel.

Real orbital values

The mathematics

The current two-line element set reports approximately 1.0027 revolutions per day. Dividing 1,440 minutes by that value gives an estimated orbital period of 1,436.1 minutes.

Period

1,436.1 min

Representative speed

11,069 km/h

Representative altitude

35,794 km

Inclination

1.52°

These are representative calculations derived from current orbital elements, not fixed physical specifications. Altitude and speed change around an elliptical orbit, and predictions change as new orbital elements are published.

Launch record

Launch and deployment

GOES-15 launched on 4 March 2010 aboard a Delta IV from Cape Canaveral.

TransitSatellite does not estimate historical launch weather. Temperature, clouds, wind, holds, and scrub reasons will appear only when supported by traceable historical sources.

Orbit

GEO orbit explained

A geosynchronous satellite takes about one sidereal day to orbit Earth. A circular equatorial geostationary satellite appears to remain near one longitude in the sky.

GEO is valuable when continuous coverage of a broad region matters, although the great distance increases signal delay and reduces image detail compared with lower orbits.

Live TransitSatellite experience

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Learning

Questions to explore

  • Why can infrared instruments observe clouds at night?
  • What is the difference between continuous regional coverage and global coverage?

Evidence

Sources and data notes

Current identity and orbital elements come from CelesTrak’s public GP data. Calculated orbit values are derived from the current TLE and may change after catalog updates. Mission-history claims are added separately and require authoritative sources.

Catalog updated

Sep 17, 2026, 5:37 AM UTC

Story review

1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z