GOES 1 (SMS-C)

About This Satellite

GOES-1 launched on October 16, 1975 and began the numbered GOES series of operational environmental satellites. The programme history records its decommissioning in 1985. This is a historical weather spacecraft, not an alternative source of the real-time imagery now associated with newer GOES generations.

A familiar programme name can hide major hardware changes

GOES is a continuing programme, not a promise that all generations have identical imaging systems. When comparing an early observation with a modern one, identify the instrument and product first. A spacecraft name is a starting point for finding the data, not a substitute for understanding how the observation was collected.

The catalog object outlives the original service

A later orbit belongs to the surviving hardware and need not reproduce its controlled operational position. For historical weather analysis, use the image archive's time and navigation metadata. The orbit snapshot on this page cannot establish which cloud features GOES-1 observed decades ago.

Mission reference: NOAA/NASA GOES programme: GOES-1 launch and retirement. Editorial review: 2026-09-12.

Spinning gave the sensor a limited Earth-viewing interval

NOAA describes the early GOES spacecraft as spin-stabilized, with Earth in view for only about ten percent of a rotation. The later three-axis-stabilized design changed that observing constraint. Repeated scanning built useful weather imagery, but the early platform should not be imagined as a permanently Earth-facing modern camera.

Reference: NOAA NESDIS: early GOES spin stabilization.

Follow the archive to a named product

NCEI groups GOES 1-15 resources separately from the newer GOES-R series and provides routes to gridded infrared and cloud-climatology records. These are processed datasets with their own coverage and documentation. Before using an image in a comparison, confirm its spacecraft, channel, timestamp, and processing level rather than assuming every GOES archive product contains every satellite.

Reference: NOAA NCEI: historical GOES data products.

Reading this orbital snapshot

Based on TLE epoch: 2026-09-05. Estimated altitude ranges from 35,761 km at perigee to 35,802 km at apogee, a difference of 41 km. The orbital period is about 1435.9 minutes. Eccentricity 0.00049 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 4.41 degrees implies approximate geocentric ground-track limits of 4.4 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 1435.9 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 8366 · GCAT: S08366 (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)

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