Geostationary weather satellites

Below are checklists of geostationary weather satellites, launch dates, and images of the satellites. This is a work in progress, and completeness is our goal. If readers know of additional information or images, please contact the authors using the e-mail addresses at the bottom of this page.

Satellite series covered on this page:

U.S. Applications Technology Satellite (ATS) series:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
ATS-1 (ATS-B)	1966-12-07	ATS-1 ATS-1/3 ATS-1/3 ATS-1/3 ATS-1/3	ATS	ATS
ATS-2 (ATS-A)	1967-04-06	ATS-2
ATS-3 (ATS-C)	1967-11-05	ATS-3 ATS-3 ATS-1/3 ATS-1/3 ATS-1/3 ATS-1/3
ATS-4 (ATS-D)	1968-08-10	ATS-4 ATS-4 ATS-4/5 ATS-4/5
ATS-5 (ATS-E)	1969-08-12
ATS-6 (ATS-F)	1974-05-30	ATS-6 ATS-6

U.S. Synchronous Meteorological Satellite (SMS) / Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) series:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
SMS-1 (SMS-A)	1974-05-17		SMS	SMS/GOES
SMS-2 (SMS-B)	1975-02-06	SMS-2
GOES-1 (GOES-A / SMS-C)	1975-10-16	GOES-1	GOES
GOES-2 (GOES-B)	1977-06-16
GOES-3 (GOES-C)	1978-06-16
SMS/GOES	Unspecified	SMS/GOES SMS/GOES SMS/GOES
GOES-4 (GOES-D)	1980-09-09	GOES-4/7 GOES-G GOES-7 GOES-7 GOES-7
GOES-5 (GOES-E)	1981-05-22
GOES-6 (GOES-F)	1983-04-28
GOES-G [failed]	1986-05-03
GOES-7 (GOES-H)	1987-02-26
GOES-8 (GOES-I)	1994-04-13	GOES-8 GOES-8/12 GOES-8/12 GOES-8/12
GOES-9 (GOES-J)	1995-05-23
GOES-10 (GOES-K)	1997-04-25
GOES-11 (GOES-L)	2000-05-03
GOES-12 (GOES-M)	2001-07-23
GOES-13 (GOES-N)	2006-05-24
GOES-O	200?
GOES-P	200?
GOES-Q	Canceled
GOES-R	200?

European METEOrological SATellite (Meteosat) series:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Meteosat-1 (Meteosat-A)	1977-11-22		Meteosat	Meteosat
Meteosat-2 (Meteosat-B)	1981-06-19
Meteosat-3 (Meteosat-P2)	1988-06-15	Meteosat-3
Meteosat-4 (MOP-1)	1989-03-06	Meteosat-4 Meteosat-4
Meteosat-5 (MOP-2)	1991-03-02
Meteosat-6 (MOP-3)	1993-11-20
Meteosat-7 (MTP)	1997-09-02	Meteosat-7 Meteosat-7
Meteosat	Unspecified	Meteosat Meteosat Meteosat Meteosat (not MSG)

European Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) series:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
MSG-1 / Meteosat-8	2002-08-28	MSG	MSG	MSG
MSG-2 / Meteosat-9	2005-12-21
MSG-3	200?

Japanese Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS) / Himawari series:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
GMS-1 (Himawari-1)	1977-07-14	GMS-1 GMS-1	GMS	GMS
GMS-2 (Himawari-2)	1981-08-10	GMS-2
GMS-3 (Himawari-3)	1984-08-03
GMS-4 (Himawari-4)	1989-09-06
GMS-5 (Himawari-5)	1995-03-18	GMS-5
GMS	Unspecified	GMS GMS GMS GMS

Japanese Multi-functional Transport Satellite (MTSat) / Himawari (continued) series:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
MTSat-1 [failed]	1999-11-15	MTSat	MTSat	MTSat
MTSat-1R (Himawari-6)	2005-02-26
MTSat-2	200?

Indian National Satellite (Insat) series:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Insat-1A	1982-04-10	Insat-1 Insat-1A	Insat	Insat
Insat-1B [Challenger-launched]	1983-08-30
Insat-1C	1988-07-21
Insat-1D	1990-06-12
Insat-2A	1992-07-09	Insat-2 Insat-2
Insat-2B	1993-07-22
Insat-2C	1995-12-06
Insat-2D	1997-06-03
Insat-2E	1999-04-02
Insat-3B	2000-03-31	Insat-3B
Insat-3C	2002-01-23	Insat-3C
Insat-3A	2003-04-09	Insat-3A
Insat-3D	200?
Insat-3E	200?	Insat-3E
Insat-4A	2005-12-21	Insat-4A
Insat-4C [failed]	2006-07-10	Insat-4C
Insat	Unspecified	Insat

Indian METeorological SATellite (MetSat) / Kalpana series:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
Metsat-1 / Kalpana-1	2002-09-12
Metsat-2 / Kalpana-2	200?

Russian Geostationary Operational Meteorological Satellite (GOMS) / Elektro series:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
GOMS-1 / Elektro-1	1994-10-31	GOMS GOMS GOMS		GOMS
GOMS-2 / Elektro-2

Chinese Feng Yun (FY-2 and FY-4) geostationary satellites:

Satellite	Launch Date	Images
		reference	launch covers	postal items
first FY-2A accident/explosion	1994-04-02		FY-2	FY-2
FY-2A	1997-06-10	FY-1+FY-2A
FY-2B	2000-06-25	FY-2B
FY-2C	2004-10-19
FY-2D	2006-12-08
FY-2E	200?
FY-4	200?

Links to geostationary weather satellite information:

(The links below lead to information sources that are maintained by others. They are not part of this Website.)

• JPL library: ATS series
• FSU: ATS series
• FSU: SMS series
• FSU: GOES series
• FSU: GOES-Next series
• Astronautix.com: ATS program
• Astronautix.com: SMS program
• Astronautix.com: GOES program
• Astronautix.com: GOES-Next program
• Astronautix.com: Meteosat program
• Astronautix.com: GMS program
• Astronautix.com: Insat program
• Astronautix.com: GOMS/Elektro program
• Astronautix.com: FY-2 program
• Boeing: ATS
• Boeing: GOES D-H
• Boeing: GOES N-P
• Boeing: GMS
• Krebs: Elektro program

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