The final satellite of the GOES-R series of satellites, GOES-U, was launched on June 25 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, defying an initial unfavorable weather forecast that became 70 percent favorable as weather cleared. The two-hour window opened at 5:16 PM EDT (21:16 UTC), but the vehicle took off from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center ten minutes later, at 5:26 PM EDT (21:26 UTC).
The spacecraft will be placed into a Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) before it takes its final orbital position in Geostationary Orbit (GEO). The two side boosters will then return to land at LZ-1 and LZ-2 located within Cape Canaveral Space Force Station just miles away from where it took off.