KSC-98pc1873

The GOES-L weather satellite, to be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS) aboard an Atlas II rocket in March or April, is covered and waiting on a semi-trailer truck (in background) that will transport it to Astrotech in Titusville for final testing. It arrived aboard the C-5 air cargo plane (seen in foreground) at CCAS. GOES-L, the fourth of a new advanced series of geostationary weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is a three-axis inertially stabilized spacecraft that will provide pictures and perform atmospheric sounding at the same time. Once launched, the satellite will undergo checkout and then provide backup capabilities for the existing, aging GOES East weather satellite