NOAA18 terminal failure

Analoguesat

Analoguesat

Administrator
Staff member
My Satellite Setup
TM 5402HD
Sky+ UK.
My Location
Scottish Borders
NOAA 18 has suffered an on board transmitter failure a week or so back & has been decommissioned this afternoon whilst NOAA still have some contact with the old girl.. :(

On May 31, 2025 at 1605 UTC, the NOAA-18 S-band Transmitter 4 (STX4) experienced a power drop from 7W to 0.8W. STX4 is the only remaining transmitter used for up-link (commanding) and downlink (telemetry & global science data from the recorder). Full recovery of the S-Band transmitter and its functionality is not possible, and therefore jeopardizes the ability to ensure safe operation of the spacecraft. Based on NOAA’s requirement to responsibly manage on-orbit assets, NOAA will decommission NOAA-18 on June 6, 2025 between 1733 and 1749 UTC.
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usradioguy.com

Decommissioning NOAA-18

Based on NOAA’s requirement to responsibly manage on-orbit assets, NOAA will commence with decommissioning activities immediately for NOAA-18. The exact date/time of decommission is not yet determined and is pending completion of pre-decommission processes. Users are advised to discontinue use...
usradioguy.com usradioguy.com

farewell old friend you served us well
 
Awww Man....I use to get some nice downlink from that bird...
 
Update - 18 was switched off at 1740UTC

Unfortunately with the orange buffoon's spending cuts 15 18 & 19 were all vulnerable - the slightest failure will now see them junked instead of trying to work around issues like NOAA have done in the past as they dont have the staff to keep elderly craft going any longer
 
Looks like the last down-link I got from NOAA 18 is the last one we can see from that bird.
(see my last post in the Satdump software & wxsat reception)

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