| GOES-2 | |
| Mission Type: | Weather satellite |
| Operator: | NOAA / NASA |
| Cospar Id: | 1977-048A |
| Satcat: | 10061 |
| Mission Duration: | 24 years |
| Spacecraft Type: | SMS |
| Manufacturer: | Ford Aerospace |
| Launch Date: | UTC |
| Launch Rocket: | Delta 2914 |
| Launch Site: | Cape Canaveral LC-17B |
| Launch Contractor: | McDonnell Douglas |
| Disposal Type: | Decommissioned |
| Deactivated: | UTC |
| Orbit Epoch: | 17 May 2016, 10:12:31 UTC[1] |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric |
| Orbit Regime: | Geostationary |
| Orbit Periapsis: | 35972km (22,352miles) |
| Orbit Apoapsis: | 36094km (22,428miles) |
| Orbit Inclination: | 13.7696º |
| Orbit Period: | 24 hours |
| Orbit Longitude: | 75° West (1977-1978) 100-110° West (1978-1984) 112-114° West (1984-1990) 60° West (1990-1992) 135° West (1992-1995) 177° West (1995-2001) |
| Apsis: | gee |
GOES-2, known as GOES-B before becoming operational, was a geostationary weather satellite which was operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as part of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system.[2] GOES-2 was built by Ford Aerospace, and was based on the satellite bus developed for the Synchronous Meteorological Satellite programme. At launch it had a mass of .[3] It was positioned in geostationary orbit, from where it was used for weather forecasting in the United States. Following its retirement as a weather satellite, it was used as a communications satellite until its final decommissioning in 2001.
GOES-B was launched using a Delta 2914 carrier rocket flying from Launch Complex 17B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.[4] The launch occurred at 10:51:00 GMT on 16 June 1977.[5] The launch successfully placed GOES-B into a geostationary transfer orbit, from which it raised itself to geostationary orbit by means of an onboard SVM-5 apogee motor. Its insertion into geosynchronous orbit occurred at 03:26 GMT on 17 June.[6]
Following on-orbit testing, GOES-B was redesignated GOES-2, and replaced SMS-1 at a longitude of 60 degrees west. It was operated as a weather satellite at several different positions until 1993, and was then placed into storage. It was reactivated as a communications satellite in 1995, and moved to 177° West. It was used by Peacesat to provide communications services to islands in the Pacific Ocean, a role in which it was replaced by GOES 7 in 1999, and by the US National Science Foundation for communications with the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station. On 5 May 2001, it was retired to a graveyard orbit. At 21:08 GMT, two hours after the last manoeuvre to remove it from geosynchronous orbit, GOES-2 was commanded to deactivate its communications system, preventing future ground commands being sent to it.