NASA awarded a $165,700,000 contract to United Launch Alliance to launch GOES-T on an Atlas V.
GOES-T was slated to launch in 2020 with the same sensors as GOES-16 and GOES-17 before NASA discovered problems with the Advanced Baseline Imager’s cooling system.
Lockheed Martin finished assembling the GOES-T spacecraft in 2019 and was preparing it for environmental testing when NOAA directed the company to halt work due to ABI problems on GOES-17.
NOAA will not launch GOES-T in May 2020.
Lockheed Martin removed the ABI from GOES-T and shipped it to Harris in October 2019.
Lockheed Martin plans to make changes to the GOES-T spacecraft to accommodate the modified ABI, including adding additional sensors and increasing available power.
The GOES-17 cooling system problem could delay the planned 2020 launch of the next satellite in the series, GOES-T, pending decisions on instrument modifications and additional testing.