NASA to launch new mission for weather observation, environmental monitoring

LOS ANGELES : The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is preparing to launch a new mission to help improve weather observing and environmental monitoring capabilities on Earth, as well as advance space weather observations, the agency said on Friday.

NASA and SpaceX are targeting June 25 to launch the mission, codenamed Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U (GOES-U).

The satellite will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The satellite will carry a suite of instruments for advanced imagery, atmospheric measurements, real-time mapping of lightning activity, and detecting approaching space weather hazards, including a new compact coronagraph that will image the outer layer of the Sun's atmosphere to detect and characterize coronal mass ejections.