A NASA rocket carrying an advanced geospatial satellite lifted off on Tuesday, June 25, as part of a joint weather-monitoring program between the space agency and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).The Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from the John F Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 5:26 pm local time on Tuesday.Its payload included the last of four Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) in the GOES-R Series, which are used in a collaborative NOAA and NASA program. The satellite will monitor the Earth and sun in high-definition, tracking weather for most of the western hemisphere.The satellite, GOES-U, is carrying the first operational satellite solar coronagraph, an instrument that can “detect hazardous space weather that could disrupt power grids, communications and navigation systems,” the NOAA said.The NOAA said after the launch on Tuesday that the GOES-U had successfully deployed its solar array panels, and was operating under its own power. In about two weeks, it will reach geostationary orbit at 22,236 miles above Earth, and will be renamed GOES-19. Credit: NASA via Storyful