GOES 18
Country: United States · Also known as: GOES-T
Live Position
Ground Track · Last 90 Minutes
Upcoming Passes · Over Your Location
About This Satellite
GOES-18 launched as GOES-T on March 1, 2022. It replaced GOES-17 as the operational GOES-West satellite on January 4, 2023, providing a western viewpoint for the NOAA weather constellation.
A regional watch rather than a global flyover
The GOES-West role emphasises repeated views from a geostationary position instead of the moving coverage of a polar orbiter.
A service role still needs a dated source
The role noted here was checked against the program source on the review date. It is not inferred from a green marker or an orbit label. A later fleet reassignment would require an editorial update even if fresh tracking elements continued to arrive.
Mission reference: NOAA/NASA: GOES-R series mission history. Editorial review: .
Lightning observations complement cloud images
The Geostationary Lightning Mapper detects optical signals associated with lightning. Its total-lightning observations complement other satellite imagery, radar, and surface measurements when forecasters assess storm development. A cloud-top image and a lightning product answer different questions. Neither alone guarantees that a particular location will experience a severe storm or a ground strike.
Reference: NOAA/NASA: Geostationary Lightning Mapper.
Sixteen bands are not sixteen identical views
The Advanced Baseline Imager separates visible, near-infrared, and infrared wavelengths. This supports products concerned with clouds, atmospheric moisture, and surface conditions. Display colours may be assigned to reveal a physical quantity rather than reproduce human vision. Check the band or composite name before interpreting an image; the tracking map here does not supply those calibrated measurements.
Reference: NOAA/NASA: ABI spectral bands and products.
Reading this orbital snapshot
Based on TLE epoch: 2026-09-05. Estimated altitude ranges from 35,783 km at perigee to 35,790 km at apogee, a difference of 6 km. The orbital period is about 1436.1 minutes. Eccentricity 0.00008 indicates a nearly circular path. In a two-body approximation, perigee speed is 1.00 times apogee speed. These are mean-element estimates, not instantaneous measurements. Distance per orbit uses an ellipse approximation.
Saved build snapshot. If a valid TLE is retrieved, this explanation and the orbit panel update together. Otherwise this dated snapshot is retained.
Ground track is not sensor coverage
An inclination of 0.03 degrees implies approximate geocentric ground-track limits of 0.0 degrees north and south. This is a prograde orbit, moving in the same general direction as Earth rotation. The plotted line marks the point beneath the object. It does not represent camera coverage, radio reception, or a guaranteed visible pass.
Is it fixed above one longitude?
The snapshot period is 1436.1 minutes. A sidereal day is about 1,436.07 minutes. Height alone does not establish a geostationary orbit: the period must match Earth rotation and the path must be circular and equatorial. This catalog uses a five-minute period tolerance for near-geosynchronous labels; near-geostationary additionally requires inclination at most 1 degree and eccentricity at most 0.01. These are browsing categories, not evidence of station-keeping or a fixed longitude.
Accuracy and missing information
The introductory record describes the build snapshot. The orbital snapshot explanation and orbit panel share any successfully retrieved TLE; check the displayed epoch. Reentered objects retain historical data only. Mission history is not rewritten by TLE updates. TLE/SGP4 positions are predictions and can change after maneuvers or updated observations. The 14-day stale-data cutoff is a display safeguard, not an accuracy guarantee. Local passes are geometric predictions, not a visibility forecast. No verified operator or mission status means unknown, not active. Do not use this catalog for collision avoidance or operational flight decisions.
Catalog sources: CelesTrak SATCAT: NORAD 51850 · GCAT: S51850 (source update 2026 Sep 4 2345:57). Supplementary metadata: SatNOGS DB, retrieved 2026-09-05T12:57:25.375Z. Page assembled 2026-09-15. GCAT phase codes describe trajectory phases, not mission health.
Learn more: TLE data · Perigee and apogee · Ground tracks · JOT (Jewawud Live Orbital Map)