GOES 7

Artist's impression of a GOES-D series satellite
Mission type	Weather satellite
Operator	NOAA / NASA (1987-1999) Peacesat (1999-2012)
COSPAR ID	1987-022A
SATCAT no.	17561
Mission duration	3-7 years (planned) 25 years (achieved)
Spacecraft properties
Bus	HS-371
Manufacturer	Hughes
Start of mission
Launch date	26 February 1987, 23:05 (1987-02-26UTC23:05Z) UTC
Rocket	Delta 3914
Launch site	Cape Canaveral LC-17A
Contractor	McDonnell Douglas
End of mission
Disposal	Decommissioned
Deactivated	12 April 2012 (2012-04-13)
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Geocentric
Regime	Geostationary
Longitude	75° West (1987-1989) 98° West (1989-1992) 112° West (1992-1995) 135° West (1995-1999) 95° West (1999) 175° West (1999-2012)
Slot	GOES-EAST (1987-1989) GOES-WEST (1995-1999)
Eccentricity	0.0002306
Perigee	35,879 kilometres (22,294 mi)
Apogee	35,898 kilometres (22,306 mi)
Inclination	15.09°
Period	24 hours

GOES 7, known as GOES-H before becoming operational, is an American satellite. It was originally built as a weather satellite, and formed part of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system. Originally built as a ground spare,^[1] GOES-H was launched in 1987 due to delays with the next series of satellites. It was operated by NOAA until 1999, before being leased to Peacesat, who use it as a communications satellite.^[2] As of 2009, it was operational over the Pacific Ocean, providing communications for the Pacific Islands. On April 12, 2012, the spacecraft was finally decommissioned and moved to a graveyard orbit.^[3]

Launch[edit]

GOES-H was launched aboard a McDonnell Douglas Delta 3914 rocket, flying from Launch Complex 17A at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.^[4] The launch occurred at 23:05 GMT on 26 February 1987.^[4] The launch had originally been scheduled for late 1986, but was delayed after GOES-G failed to achieve orbit.^[5] It was built by Hughes Space and Communications, based on the HS-371 satellite bus,^[6] and was the last of five GOES-D series satellites to be launched.^[7]

Operations[edit]

GOES 7 image

Following launch, GOES 7 was positioned in geostationary orbit at a longitude of 75° West,^[8] where it underwent on-orbit testing before being activated in the GOES-EAST slot of the constellation.

Due to the loss of GOES-G, and delays in the development of the GOES-I series spacecraft, no reserve satellites were available in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After the imager on the GOES 6 satellite failed in 1989, GOES 7 was left as the only operational GOES satellite.^[9] It was moved to 98° West to cover the whole of the continental United States. In 1992, Meteosat 3 was leased from Eumetsat to take over GOES-EAST operations, allowing GOES 8 to be moved 112° West. When GOES 8 entered service in 1995, it replaced Meteosat 3, and GOES 7 was moved to the GOES-WEST position at 135° West. It remained in service until its retirement from service in 1996,^[10] at which time it was moved to 95° West. It was then transferred to Peacesat, and positioned at 175° West^[11][12] until its final retirement and disposal in 2012.

It is the only satellite to have been operated as both GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST in the course of normal operations. GOES 10 has been used as both GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST, however its operations as GOES-EAST were as a backup during an outage of GOES 12, and the satellite was not moved to the GOES-EAST orbital position.

See also[edit]

• 1987 in spaceflight


• List of GOES satellites

References[edit]