GEOSTATIONARY OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE (GOES) Telemetry and Communications

The GOES satellites are multifunctional satellites whose primary function is to provide continuous measurements of the earth’s surface and atmosphere from two geostationary orbit locations: 75EW and 135EW. This objective is accomplished with the Visible infrared spin scan radiometer Atmospheric Sounder (VAS). The atmospheric sounder is a new feature which will add a third dimension to the photographs of the earth seen nightly by TV newscast viewers. The satellite also contains a Space Environment Monitor (SEM) which includes three instruments: a magnetometer, a solar X-ray sensor and an energetic particle sensor (EPS), which monitor solar flares and near earth space environment. The satellite contains a communications system which, in addition to transmitting VAS, SEM and housekeeping data to earth, provides relay capabilities for the stretched VAS and weather facsimile (WEFAX) data, as well as for the Data Collection Platform (DCP). A sketch of the satellite is given in Figure 1.