Going the Distance: GOES-R and the Future of U.S. Geostationary Environmental Satellites

http://www.aero.org/publications/crosslink/winter2005/07.html

The GOES-R system will transition to operations around 2014, with the first launch planned for late in 2012. The GOES-R satellite series will operate for more than 16 years, providing regional environmental imagery and specialized meteorological, climatic, terrestrial, oceanographic, and solar-geophysical data. GOES-R will support a wide variety of end users such as National Weather Service, Federal Aviation Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and Department of Homeland Security.