Artist's impression of one of the new generation of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) in orbit. The first of the new generation (collectively known as GOES-Next) will be GOES-I, currently scheduled for launch by Atlas rocket in late 1992. The primary instruments are an imaging radiometer and a vertical sounder. GOES-I will be body stabilised, allowing continuous viewing of the Earth. Previous GOES satellites used body spinning for stabilisation, thus only being able to view the Earth for about 5% of the time. A total of five GOES-Next satellites are planned, each with a 5-year design life.