Synchronous Meteorological Satellite

"SMS-2" redirects here. For other uses, see SMS2.

"SMS-1" redirects here. For other uses, see SMS1.

The Synchronous Meteorological Satellite (SMS) program, was a program where NASA developed two weather satellites; which were placed into geosynchronous orbit.

Illustration of a Synchronous Meteorological Satellite

History

SMS-1 was launched May 17, 1974 and SMS-2 was launched February 6, 1975.^[1][2] Both satellites were carried to orbit by Delta 2914 rockets.^[3] The program was initiated after the successes achieved by the Applications Technology Satellite (ATS) research satellites, which demonstrated the feasibility of using satellites in geosynchronous orbit for meteorology. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) program, which now supports weather forecasting, severe storm tracking, and meteorology research in the United States, followed immediately after the SMS program; the GOES 1 satellite was initially designated SMS-C.^[4] SMS-1 and SMS-2; and GOES-1, GOES-2, and GOES-3; were essentially identical.^[5]

List of SMS satellites

Designation		Launch Date/Time (UTC)	Rocket	Launch Site	Longitude	First Image	Status	Retirement	Remarks
Launch	Operational
SMS series satellites
SMS-A	SMS-1	May 17, 1974	Delta 2914
SMS-B	SMS-2	February 6, 1975	Delta 2914
SMS-derived satellites
SMS-C GOES-A	GOES 1	October 16, 1975, 22:40	Delta 2914	CCAFS LC-17A		October 25, 1975	Retired	March 7, 1985[6]
SMS-D GOES-B	GOES 2	June 16, 1977, 10:51	Delta 2914	CCAFS LC-17B	60°W		Retired	1993[7]	Reactivated as comsat in 1995,[7] finally deactivated in May 2001
SMS-E GOES-C	GOES 3	June 16, 1978, 10:49	Delta 2914	CCAFS LC-17B			Retired	1993[8]	Reactivated as comsat in 1995,[8] was decommissioned 29 June 2016