Local

Newest weather satellite takes flight

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA has launched another of the world's most advanced weather satellites, this time to safeguard the western U.S.

An Atlas V rocket blasted off Thursday at 5:02 p.m. from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying the GOES-S satellite for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

It's the second satellite in an $11 billion effort that's already revolutionizing forecasting with fast, crisp images of hurricanes, wildfires and other natural calamities.

TRENDING STORIES:

The first spacecraft in the series has been monitoring the Atlantic and East Coast for the past year. The same first-class service is now coming to the Pacific region.

It's the third weather tracker launched by NASA in just over a year: "three brilliant eyes in the sky," as NOAA puts it.

Like GOES-East, which launched about 18 months ago, GOES-S will scan the Earth five times faster and at four times the image resolution than earlier satellites.

With it, the United States will now have two of the most advanced weather satellites working in tandem to provide unprecedented coverage across the entire U.S. and most of the Western Hemisphere, from the west coast of Africa to New Zealand.

The advanced technology will help Severe Weather Team 2 track lightning and fog down to the minute.

It will also give forecasters and emergency responders more time to prepare for severe weather across the U.S. as storm systems move east.

GOES-S is a joint collaboration between NOAA and NASA.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.