GOES-18

GOES-18 officially took over as the operational GOES-West satellite in early 2023, replacing GOES-17 which had suffered from a degraded Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) cooling system. GOES-17's hardware malfunction caused its infrared channels to overheat during certain times of the day, reducing image quality. GOES-18 was moved into the GOES-West position at 137.2°W longitude after completing its post-launch checkout and calibration.

GOES-18 carries the same suite of advanced instruments as the other GOES-R series satellites, including the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) for high-resolution weather imagery, the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) for detecting total lightning activity, and space weather monitoring instruments. The ABI provides 16 spectral bands of data at resolutions up to 500 meters, a significant improvement over the previous GOES generation. These instruments enable rapid scanning of severe weather, wildfires, and volcanic ash across the western hemisphere.

From its geostationary orbit at 137.2°W longitude, GOES-18 as GOES-West monitors the eastern Pacific Ocean, western North America including Alaska and Hawaii, and Central America. This coverage is critical for tracking Pacific storm systems, atmospheric rivers hitting the U.S. West Coast, and eastern Pacific hurricane activity. The satellite's position allows it to maintain constant watch over these regions 24 hours a day.

GOES-18, originally designated GOES-T, was launched on March 1, 2022, aboard an Atlas V 541 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The launch was the fourth in the GOES-R series of geostationary weather satellites operated by NOAA. After reaching geostationary orbit, the satellite was renamed from GOES-T to GOES-18 to reflect its operational designation.