Weather satellite to monitor U.S. West

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — America’s newest weather satellite blasted off Tuesday to improve wildfire and flood forecasting across the western half of the country.

It’s the replacement for a satellite launched exactly four years ago, which ended up with a cooling line blockage that hindered its main camera.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the new model is redesigned to avoid the problem. It will be designated GOES-18 after reaching an equatorial orbit 22,000 miles up. The first images should come next year, following months of testing.

This is the third in a nearly $11.7 billion series of four GOES weather satellites that are among the most advanced ever built; the cost includes decades of operation.

The NASA-supported satellites “provide the only continuous coverage of weather and hazardous environmental conditions in the Western Hemisphere” said NOAA program director Pam Sullivan.

“Having these multiple ways of looking at the Earth gives us a lot more and a lot better information for these critical forecasts to save lives, protect property,” NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said following liftoff.