The GOES-T weather satellite is on its way into orbit, but the journey is just beginning!

News 12 Storm Watch Team Meteorologist Meredith Garofalo was there to witness the Atlas V rocket liftoff, propelling the satellite into space.

From the launch pad, into the sky, the next stop is separating from the rocket. Then, in just over a week, it will join its sister satellites above the Earth.

Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, the head of science at NASA, says the satellite has a little more leg work to go through before it gets to its destination.

"What we need to do now is use the engine of the spacecraft itself to fly to 22,000 plus miles to the geostationary orbit. That's the place where you can sit and stand on and it rotates exactly at the same time and speed as the earth,” he says.

The team of GOES-West and East will monitor and capture everything from snowstorms to tropical systems, to even wildfire smoke.

Once it gets into geostationary orbit, the satellite gets a number, so it would be GOES-18. It will then be swapped out with the current GOES-West satellite, which watches over the entire Western Hemisphere.

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