Editing Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (section)

===Inactive or repurposed===
Several GOES satellites are still in orbit but are either inactive or have been re-purposed.

Although [[GOES 3|GOES-3]] ceased to be used for weather operations in 1989, it spent over 20 years as a critical part of communications between the U.S. and [[Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station]] before being decommissioned in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/news-events/press-releases/2016/goes-3-satellite-decommissioned-after-linking-antarctica-to-the-world-for-m |publisher=University of Miami |title=Goes-3 Satellite Decommissioned After Linking Antarctica To The World For More Than 20 Years |access-date=27 August 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828061654/http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/news-events/press-releases/2016/goes-3-satellite-decommissioned-after-linking-antarctica-to-the-world-for-m |archive-date=28 August 2017 }}</ref> Geostationary satellites expend fuel to keep themselves stationary over the equator, and thus cannot normally ordinarily be seen from the poles. When that fuel is depleted, solar and lunar perturbations increase the satellite's inclination so that its [[ground track]] begins to describe an [[analemma]] (a figure-8 in the north–south direction). This usually ends the satellite's primary mission. However, when the inclination is high enough the satellite may begin to rise above the polar horizons at the extremes of the figure-8, as was the case for GOES-3. A nine-meter dish was constructed at the station, and communication with the satellite could be obtained for about five hours per day. Data rates were around 2.048 megabytes/second (bi-directional) under optimum conditions.

[[GOES 8|GOES-8]], which was designated GOES-I before orbiting, was the GOES-East satellite when it was in operation. It is in a parking orbit and is drifting westerly at a rate of about 4° daily.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.oso.noaa.gov/goesstatus/spacecraftStatusSummary.asp?spacecraft=8 | title=GOES-8 Spacecraft Status Summary | publisher=NOAA | access-date=29 June 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060818232536/http://www.oso.noaa.gov/goesstatus/spacecraftStatusSummary.asp?spacecraft=8 | archive-date=18 August 2006 }}</ref> It was decommissioned on 1 April 2003 and deactivated on 5 May 2004 after the failure of its propulsion system.<ref>{{cite press release | url=http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2004/s2217.htm | title=NOAA DEACTIVATES GOES-8 AFTER 10 YEARS OF SERVICE | publisher=NOAA | date=3 May 2004 | access-date=25 August 2006 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929010143/http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2004/s2217.htm | archive-date=29 September 2006 }}</ref>

[[GOES 10|GOES-10]], which was designated GOES-K before orbiting, was decommissioned on 2 December 2009 and was boosted to a [[graveyard orbit]]. It no longer had the fuel for required maneuvers to keep it on station.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/3990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091223031249/http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/3990|url-status=dead|title=Farewell to GOES-10 « CIMSS Satellite Blog|archive-date=December 23, 2009}}</ref>

[[GOES 11|GOES-11]], which was designated GOES-L before orbiting, had a partial failure on 6 December 2011. It was decommissioned on 16 December 2011 and boosted into a graveyard orbit.

[[GOES 12|GOES-12]], which was designated GOES-M before orbiting, was decommissioned on 16 August 2013 and boosted into a graveyard orbit.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Operations/GOES/decommissioned.html | title=NOAA's Office of Satellite and Product Operations - GOES Status | website=www.ospo.noaa.gov | language=EN-US | access-date=24 June 2017 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170604004447/http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Operations/GOES/decommissioned.html | archive-date=4 June 2017 }}</ref>

[[GOES 13|GOES-13]], which was designated GOES-N before orbiting, was decommissioned on 3 January 2018 and boosted into storage orbit. It was transferred to the [[United States Space Force|U.S. Space Force]] and positioned at 61.5ºE under the new name EWS-G1. Following three years of monitoring the Indian Ocean, EWS-G1 was retired on 31 October 2023 when EWS-G2 (formerly GOES-15) took over.

[[GOES 15|GOES-15]], which was designated GOES-P before orbiting, was launched successfully on 4 March 2010.<ref name="nasa.gov"/><ref name="GOES-P Mission"/> From 2011 to 2018, it occupied the GOES-West position at 135°W over the Pacific Ocean.<ref name="GOES-15 Spacecraft Status Summary"/> It moved eastward to 128° W beginning on 29 October 2018 in order to make room for [[GOES-17]], which took over the GOES-West position on 10 December 2018.<ref name=":1"/> GOES-15 operated in tandem with GOES-17 for some time, but was retired in early 2020 and moved to a parking orbit.<ref name="cimss.ssec.wisc.edu"/><ref name="goes.noaa.gov"/> GOES-15 was temporarily returned to operational status in August 2020 to fill a gap in the sensor capabilities of GOES-17 due to a hardware issue. Like GOES-13, GOES-15 was then transferred to the U.S. Space Force and renamed EWS-G2 to monitor the Indian Ocean until approximately 2030.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
Image:GOES coverage.svg|Coverage map of GOES-11 and GOES-12 when active (2007).
Image:GOES12Fulldiskvisible.png|GOES-12 visible light image.
Image:GOES12Fulldiskwatervapor.png|GOES-12 water vapor image.
</gallery>