At Astrotech Loral workers check trim tab deployment on the GOES-L weather satellite.

At Astrotech, in Titusville, Fla., Loral workers check trim tab deployment on the GOES-L weather satellite. Other tests to be performed are the imaging system, instrumentation, communications and power systems. The satellite is to be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Station aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas II rocket in late March. The GOES-L is the fourth of a new advanced series of geostationary weather satellites for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It is a three-axis inertially stabilized spacecraft that will provide pictures and perform atmospheric sounding at the same time. Once launched, the satellite, to be designated GOES-11, will undergo checkout and provide backup capabilities for the existing, aging GOES East weather satellite