An image shows North and South America and the surrounding oceans. (Photo/China News Service)
NOAA's GOES-16 satellite, formerly known as GOES-R, has recently sent back its first, high resolution images, sharing its revolutionary satellite view with people around the world for the first time.
GOES-16 is in a fixed orbit above the equator, approximately 22,300 miles above the surface of the earth, and can create images that take in the coast of West Africa, to Guam, and everything in between. GOES-16 is the first spacecraft in a new series of NASA-built advanced geostationary weather satellites.
GOES-16 was launched on Nov. 19, 2016 at 6:42 p.m. EST from Cape Canaveral, Florida.