Space assets
Weather satellite guide
The satellites that map every storm on Earth. Here are the major weather satellites operating in 2026, what each measures, and where the data goes.
The two main types
Geostationary (GEO)
Fixed above equator at 22,236 miles altitude. Stays over same spot. Provides constant Americas / Pacific / etc coverage.
Polar-orbiting
Circle Earth every 100 minutes at 500-800 mile altitude. Cover globe twice daily. Best for high-latitude coverage.
US geostationary fleet
GOES-16 / GOES East
At 75.2°W. Covers Americas. Launched 2016.
GOES-18 / GOES West
At 137°W. Covers Pacific/western US. Launched 2022.
GOES-17 / on-orbit standby
Backup. Had cooling issue.
GOES-U (future)
Fourth of GOES-R series. Launched 2024.
GOES-R series
ABI (Advanced Baseline Imager), 16 spectral bands, 500m visible resolution.
GOES-R lightning mapper
GLM. Continuous lightning detection.
US polar-orbiting fleet
NOAA-20 / JPSS-1
Since 2017. Global coverage twice daily.
NOAA-21 / JPSS-2
Since 2022.
Suomi NPP
Since 2011. Preceding JPSS series.
JPSS-3 / NOAA-22 (future)
Planned launch 2027.
JPSS-4 / NOAA-23 (future)
Planned launch 2029.
VIIRS sensor
Visible/Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite. 750m resolution.
ATMS sensor
Atmospheric temperature/humidity profiles.
CrIS sensor
Cross-track Infrared Sounder.
European (EUMETSAT)
Meteosat Second Generation
Over 0° longitude. Africa/Europe coverage.
Meteosat Third Generation
Newest series. MTG-I1 launched 2022. High-resolution imaging + lightning.
Metop series
Polar-orbiting European.
EPS-SG
Next-gen polar orbiter.
Sentinel series (ESA)
Not primarily weather but climate-relevant.
Chinese fleet
FY-4 (Fengyun)
Geostationary. Modern high-res imager.
FY-3
Polar-orbiting.
FY-2
Older GEO series.
CMA
China Meteorological Administration operates.
Japanese fleet
Himawari-8
Geostationary over Asia-Pacific.
Himawari-9
Backup/successor.
Sensor
Both have modern ABI-like sensor.
Russian fleet
- Elektro-L series (geostationary).
- Meteor-M series (polar).
- Data shared internationally.
Indian fleet
- INSAT series (geostationary).
- Kalpana-1.
- Increasingly important for regional forecast.
The specific instruments
Visible band
What you see. Only during daytime.
Infrared bands
3-13 micron. Cloud temperature. Day and night.
Water vapor
Sees upper atmosphere moisture.
Near-infrared
Vegetation, snow, fires.
Shortwave infrared
Distinguishes ice from water clouds.
Lightning mapper (GLM)
Continuous lightning detection.
Atmospheric sounder
Temperature/humidity profiles.
Ocean color
Chlorophyll, sediment.
Ultraviolet
Ozone monitoring.
The data flow
- Satellite images and profiles.
- Downlinked to ground stations.
- Distributed to NWS, DOD, universities.
- Assimilated into weather models.
- Displayed on public sites (NASA Worldview, Zoom Earth, RAMMB SLIDER).
- Delivered to public via apps.
Small satellites and CubeSats
- TROPICS constellation (NASA) — small sats for tropical cyclones.
- PlanetIQ — commercial GPS radio occultation.
- Spire Global — commercial.
- Increasingly cost-effective supplementary data.
- Future: constellations of hundreds of small sats.
Commercial weather satellites
- Various commercial firms now sell weather data.
- NOAA contracts for supplementary data.
- AI companies want satellite data.
- Concerns about data availability for public forecasts.
- Regulation evolving.
Where to see the data
NASA Worldview
worldview.earthdata.nasa.gov. Free, global, historical.
RAMMB SLIDER
CIRA. Real-time animated satellite loops.
Zoom Earth
Clean interface for viewing GOES.
EUMETSAT viewer
European coverage.
CIMSS
University of Wisconsin.
Weather apps
AccuWeather, Windy show satellite.
Local WFO
Displays satellite in briefings.
The 2020s advances
- AI-augmented satellite interpretation.
- Higher-resolution imaging.
- Multi-spectral scanners.
- Better nighttime imaging.
- Fire hotspot detection nearly real-time.
- Lightning mapping global.
- Convection detection improved.
- Continuous refresh rates.