GOES-17 (designated pre-launch as GOES-S) is an environmental satellite operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

[8] In May 2018, during the satellite's testing phase after launch, a problem was discovered with its primary instrument, the Advanced Baseline Imager (see Malfunctions, below).

[2] In June 2021, NOAA announced that due to the cooling problem with the satellite's main imager, GOES-T would replace the GOES-17 in an operational role "as soon as possible".

[16] On 2 March 2020, GOES-15 was deactivated and moved to a storage orbit, with plans to re-activate it in August 2020 supplement GOES-17 operations due to the known flaws with the Advanced Baseline Imager.

[nb 1] The GOES-R System program director, Pam Sullivan,[21] said on the conference call that preliminary projections suggested that via thermal mitigation measures such as changing the spacecraft alignment, ABI performance could be significantly improved, depending on the season.

[22] NOAA worked with Northrop Grumman to identify exactly what caused the loop heat pipe to fail, using engineering-grade copies of the spacecraft components for testing.

[19] Possible causes mentioned in the conference call included debris or foreign objects inside the heat pipe, or an improper amount of propylene coolant.

The final conclusion of the independent failure review team's investigation, released on 3 October 2018, was that "the most likely cause of the thermal performance issue is foreign object debris (FOD) blocking the flow of the coolant in the loop heat pipes.

The failure review team recommended changes to the ABI radiators on the subsequent GOES-R Series satellites, including a simpler hardware configuration and the use of ammonia as the coolant rather than propylene.

The system was redesigned, and a Critical Design Review (CDR), originally scheduled for December 2018 but delayed as a result of a government shutdown, was eventually held on 7–8 February 2019.

In October 2018, Lockheed Martin finished assembling the next unit of the GOES-R series, GOES-T, and was preparing to begin environmental testing of the completed satellite, when NOAA ordered the removal of the ABI to return to the manufacturer, Harris Corporation, for remanufacturing.

These two satellites are expected to monitor most of the Western Hemisphere and detect natural phenomena and hazards in almost real time.

[8][29] Its capabilities will allow better:[29] Along with GOES-16, these newly advanced satellites can give near-real-time updates on what is happening in the atmosphere across the United States.

[36] Development of the GLM was contracted to the Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California.