The US Department of Commerce has formally approved NOAA’s next-generation Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite program. NOAA will now enter the development phase of the mission and begin awarding industry contracts to build the spacecraft and instruments.
GeoXO will follow the GOES-R Series and expand the Earth observations that NOAA collects from geostationary orbit. New technology and scientific advancements will improve observations for weather forecasting and provide new ocean and atmospheric measurements. Data from GeoXO will contribute to weather forecast models and drive short-term weather forecasts and severe weather warnings. GeoXO will also detect and monitor environmental hazards like wildfires, smoke, dust, volcanic ash, drought and flooding, providing advanced warning to decision makers. NOAA plans for GeoXO to improve on GOES-R’s visible/infrared imagery and lightning mapping capabilities and add night-time visible imagery, hyperspectral sounding, atmospheric composition and ocean color observations.
GeoXO is a collaborative mission between NOAA and NASA. NASA is managing the development of the satellites and will launch them for NOAA, which will operate them and deliver data to users worldwide. NOAA and NASA are working with commercial partners to design and build the GeoXO spacecraft and instruments.
GeoXO will begin operating in the early 2030s as the GOES-R series nears the end of its operational lifetime.