# GOES-18
*missions*

## Specifications
- **operator**: noaa
- **actual launch**: 2022-03-01
- **current status**: operational
- **orbit type**: Geostationary orbit; GOES West at 137.0 degrees west
- **revisit days**: 0.003472
- **tasking supported**: false
- **current geographic priority**: GOES West coverage of the western contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand
- **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":"2022-03-01","current_status":"operational","orbit_type":"Geostationary orbit; GOES West at 137.0 degrees west","revisit_days":0.003472,"tasking_supported":false,"current_geographic_priority":"GOES West coverage of the western contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand","launch_vehicle":"ula-atlas-v"}

## Editorial
GOES-18 (originally GOES-T) is a NOAA geostationary meteorological satellite, the third of the GOES-R Series, launched on 2022-03-01 and placed into geostationary orbit on 2022-03-14.[^goes-r-home][^nasa-goes-network] GOES-18 replaced GOES-17 as the operational GOES West satellite on 2023-01-04 and is stationed at 137.0 degrees West, providing continuous coverage of the western contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America, and the Pacific Ocean to New Zealand.[^noaa-goes18-west][^goes-r-home] The spacecraft carries six instruments: the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), a 16-channel visible and infrared imager; the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) for optical lightning transient detection across the Americas; and solar and space-weather instruments including the Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI), Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS), Space Environment In Situ Suite (SEISS), and a magnetometer (MAG).[^goes-r-instruments] GOES-18 data products include atmospheric motion vectors, sea surface temperature, fire and thermal anomaly detection for wildfire monitoring in the western United States, and lightning mapping.[^goes-r-products][^noaa-goes18-west]

## Compositional position
- GOES-18 --[mission_payloads]--> abi (products)
- GOES-18 --[mission_payloads]--> glm (products)
- GOES-18 --[mission_payloads]--> suvi (products)
- GOES-18 --[mission_payloads]--> exis (products)
- GOES-18 --[mission_payloads]--> seiss (products)
- GOES-18 --[mission_payloads]--> mag (products)
- GOES-18 --[related-topic]--> weather-nowcasting (topics)
- GOES-18 --[related-topic]--> atmospheric-wind (topics)
- GOES-18 --[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-goes18-west] | NOAA GOES-18 is now GOES West | https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/news/earth-orbit-noaas-goes-18-now-goes-west | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [nasa-goes-network] | NASA GOES satellite network overview | https://science.nasa.gov/mission/goes/ | 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-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-18
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)