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TIROS
TIROS was launched from Cape Canavril, Florida. The name TIROS stands for Television Infrared Observation Satellite It demonstrated the advantage of mapping the earth's cloud cover from satellite altitudes. -
Applications Technology Satellite
The Applications Technology Satellite series was a set of six NASA spacecraft launched from Dec. 7, 1966, to May 30, 1974, created to explore and flight-test new technologies and techniques for communications, meteorological and navigation satellites. ATS was a multi-purpose engineering satellite series, testing technology in communications and meteorology from geosynchronous orbit. The major objective of the early ATS satellites was to test whether gravity would anchor the satellite in a synchr -
ITOS
The first of the improved satellites was launched. This satellite was named ITOS 1, for Improved TIROS Operational Satellite. Between December 11, 1970 and July 29, 1976. Five ITOS satellites designated NOAA-1 through 5 were launched. NOAA-1 was the first satellite to bear the NOAA name and the first to be launched after the establishment of NOAA in October 1970. -
SMS
Two Synchronous Meteorological Satellites (SMS) were launched by NASA: SMS-1, launched on May 17, 1974, and SMS-2, launched on February 6, 1975. The purpose of the SMS was to provide improved meteorological data on worldwide weather phenomena for improved forecasting. After the successful launch of these satellites, NASA turned over the geostationary satellite program to NOAA for operation. NOAA bought additional spacecraft identical to SMS with the new name Geostationary Operational Environment -
GOES is launched
The first GOES was launched on Oct. 16, 1975. The early GOES satellites were spin stabilized and viewed the earth only about ten percent of the time. These satellites were in operation from 1975 until 1994. From April 13, 1994, to the present, a the next generation of spacecraft, which are three-axis stabilized, (GOES I-M) has been in operation. GOES-8 was the first three-axis stabilized spacecraft and was launched April 13, 1994. The remaining spacecraft in this series, GOES 9 - 12, were succes -
TIROS-N series is launched
From October 13, 1978 to July 23, 1981, satellites in the TIROS-N series were launched. The N represented the next generation of operational satellites. NOAA-6 and NOAA-7 were launched during this time frame. Flight of the AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) and TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder suite started on TIROS-N. -
Advanced TIROS-N
The first of the Advanced TIROS-N (or ATN) satellites designated NOAA-8 was launched. These satellites are physically larger and have more power, than their predecessors, to accommodate more equipment. NOAA continues to operate the ATN series of satellites today with improved instruments. -
President Clinton
President Clinton made the landmark decision to merge the nation's military and civil operational meteorological satellite systems into a single, national system capable of satisfying both civil and national security requirements for space-based remotely sensed environmental data. Convergence of these programs is the most significant change in U.S. operational remote sensing since the launch of the first weather satellite in April 1960. -
IPO is created
NOAA, DoD, and NASA created an Integrated Program Office (IPO) to develop, manage, acquire, and operate the NPOESS system. -
GOES- 13
GOES-13 represents the first of the next generation of GOES satellites.
