CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Experts will soon get a better look at the weather impacting parts of the planet we call home thanks to a new satellite from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NASA launched the GOES-T weather observing and environmental monitoring system satellite at 4:38 p.m. on Tuesday from Space Launch Complex-41.
The satellite hitched a ride into space on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket from Florida's coast. Once in geostationary orbit, the GOES-T will be renamed GOES-18 and will join two other "R series" satellites currently providing "critical data."
According to a press release, the satellite will be assigned to monitor the U.S. West Coast, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Central America and the Pacific Ocean.
"It will map lightning activity and improve monitoring of solar activity and space weather," NASA's Kennedy Space Center writes.
The satellite is also set to detect and monitor weather systems and environmental hazards that impact its assigned region the most. This includes things like wildfires, fog, volcanic eruptions and hurricanes in the Pacific.
Miss lift off? You can watch the launch in its entirety below: