ULA Rocket to Send NASA-NOAA Weather Satellite Into Orbit

United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, is scheduled to launch a weather monitoring satellite Nov. 19 for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA.

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R will lift atop ULA’s  Atlas V 541 configuration rocket from the Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, ULA said Sunday.

GOES-R is built to help NOAA forecast and monitor severe storm, maritime conditions, seasonal changes, drought and space weather situations.

GOES-R is the first of four satellites bound for launch for NOAA and will adopt the name GOES-16 once the system reaches the geostationary orbit.

ULA said that GOES-R also carries a transponder to detect distress signals from emergency beacons on aircraft.