# GOES-16
*missions*

## Specifications
- **operator**: noaa
- **actual launch**: 2016-11-19
- **current status**: operational
- **orbit type**: Geostationary orbit; on-orbit storage at 104.7 degrees west
- **revisit days**: 0.003472
- **tasking supported**: false
- **current geographic priority**: Backup for NOAA operational geostationary constellation between GOES East and GOES West
- **launch vehicle**: ula-atlas-v
- **entity type**: mission
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-14
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: noaa
- **attributes**: {"operator":"noaa","actual_launch":"2016-11-19","current_status":"operational","orbit_type":"Geostationary orbit; on-orbit storage at 104.7 degrees west","revisit_days":0.003472,"tasking_supported":false,"current_geographic_priority":"Backup for NOAA operational geostationary constellation between GOES East and GOES West","launch_vehicle":"ula-atlas-v"}

## Editorial
GOES-16 (originally GOES-R) is a NOAA geostationary meteorological satellite, the first of the GOES-R Series, launched on 2016-11-19 into geostationary orbit.[^noaa-ospo-goes-status][^goes-r-home] It served as the operational GOES East satellite from 2017-12-18 until 2025-04-07, when GOES-19 replaced it; GOES-16 is now held in on-orbit storage at 104.7 degrees West as a backup asset.[^noaa-ospo-goes-status][^goes-r-home] The spacecraft carries six instruments: the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), a 16-channel visible and infrared imager for Earth surface and cloud observations over the Western Hemisphere; the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), detecting lightning transients across the Americas; and solar and space-weather instruments including the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI), the Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS), the Space Environment In Situ Suite (SEISS), and a magnetometer (MAG).[^goes-r-instruments][^goes-r-abi] GOES-R Series data products include atmospheric motion vectors, sea surface temperature, fire detection, and mesoscale storm tracking, derived primarily from ABI and GLM.[^goes-r-products]

## Compositional position
- GOES-16 --[mission_payloads]--> abi (products)
- GOES-16 --[mission_payloads]--> glm (products)
- GOES-16 --[mission_payloads]--> suvi (products)
- GOES-16 --[mission_payloads]--> exis (products)
- GOES-16 --[mission_payloads]--> seiss (products)
- GOES-16 --[mission_payloads]--> mag (products)
- GOES-16 --[related-topic]--> weather-nowcasting (topics)
- GOES-16 --[related-topic]--> atmospheric-wind (topics)
- GOES-16 --[related-topic]--> wildfire (topics)

## Sources
- [goes-r-home] | GOES-R Series operations overview | https://www.goes-r.gov/ | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [noaa-ospo-goes-status] | GOES instrument and subsystem performance status | https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/operations/goes/status.html | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [goes-r-instruments] | GOES-R Series instruments overview | https://www.goes-r.gov/spacesegment/instruments.html | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [goes-r-abi] | GOES-R Advanced Baseline Imager | https://www.goes-r.gov/spacesegment/abi.html | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [goes-r-products] | GOES-R Series data products overview | https://www.goes-r.gov/products/overview.html | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/missions/goes-16
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)