United Launch Services wins NASA contract to launch GOES-R, GOES-S missions

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., 10 April 2012.NASA has selected United Launch Services LLC of Englewood, Colo., to launch the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R and –S (GOES-R and GOES-S). The GOES-R and GOES-S spacecraft are scheduled to launch in Oct. 2015 and Feb. 2017, respectively, aboard Atlas V 541 rockets from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

The GOES-R and GOES-Slaunch services are estimated to cost $446 million, including launch service for the Atlas V and additional services under other contracts for payload processing, launch vehicle integration, mission unique launch site ground support, and tracking, data, and telemetry services.

The advanced spacecraft and instrument technology used on GOES-R and GOES-S will result in more timely and accurate weather forecasts and improve the detection and observation of meteorological phenomena that affect people's lives.

The GOES-R and GOES-S Flight Projects Office, managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., oversees the development of the Space Segment. The overall GOES-R and GOES-S Program is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NASA's Launch Services Program based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for Atlas V launch vehicle program management and launch services.