Posted: Fri, May 24, 2013, 10:53 AM ET (1453 GMT)
A geostationary weather satellite that provides images and other meteorological data for the US malfunctioned this week, and an on-orbit spare has been activated. The GOES-13 satellite suffered malfunctions of two key instruments on May 22, according to NOAA statements. The spacecraft has been placed into a "storage" mode while the problem is investigated, and agency officials gave no estimate of when they think the problem could be resolved. With GOES-13 out of service, NOAA has activated a spare satellite already in GEO, GOES-14. GOES-13 was launched in December 2006 and has a ten-year design lifetime; GOES-14 was launched in 2009.

Related Links:

•  Space News article
•  Spaceflight Now article
•  Aviation Week article
•  Syracuse (N.Y.) Post-Standard article
•  NOAA statement