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NASA launched the newest in a series of high-tech weather satellites Thursday that will help forecasters predict sunshine and showers alike.

Once its checked out and settled into the correct orbit around Earth, GOES-P will be turned over to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which will use it alongside similar satellites to build extensive weather maps to predict meteorological conditions around the planet.

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-P (GOES-P) spacecraft lifted off atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket at 6:57 p.m. EST (2357 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

The nearly $500 million GOES-P was initially slated to launch Tuesday, but bad weather and technical glitches delayed the space shot. High winds and last-minute alarm (ultimately a false alarm) threatened to delay the flight even more Thursday night, but were cleared in time to make the satellites one-hour launch window.

“This satellite is absolutely critical to accurate hurricane forecasting and warnings,” Bart Hagemeyer, the meteorologist in charge of the NOAA National Weather Service forecast office in Melbourne, Fla., said before the satellites launch. “We really couldnt do our job without it and Im just glad to see weve got another GOES going up.”

“Its a great day for NASA and NOAA, as this last launch completes the spacecraft in the GOES N-P series,” said Andre Dress, NASAs GOES deputy project manager at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., after the launch. “It means the hard work and dedication from this team during the past 12-plus years all has been worth it. Our review of the spacecraft and launch vehicle data shows that GOES-P is in a nominal transfer orbit with all spacecraft systems functioning properly.”

GOES-P will join a long line of previous GOES satellites that were first launched in 1975 to monitor and help predict the weather. GOES-P will initially serve as a backup for the GOES-N and GOES-O satellites currently in orbit.

“This completes the latest satellite in the GOES series to provide continuous weather monitoring for more than 50 percent of the planet,” said Charlie Maloney, GOES N-P program manager at Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems in El Segundo, Calif., which built the spacecraft. “Its fully anticipated that it will last greater than 15 years.”

The brand-new satellite will eventually take over for its older siblings once one of them fails or runs out of fuel.

“Its all about saving lives and property. Thats one of its primary goals and we dont take that responsibility lightly,” Dress said before the launch. NASA Launches New High-Tech Weather Satellite SPACE.com offers rich and compelling content about space science, travel and exploration as well as astronomy, technology, business news and more. The site boasts a variety of popular features including our space image of the day and other space pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, sign up for our free newsletters and register for our RSS Feeds today!

Besides creating weather maps, GOES-P will also monitor weather on the sun to help predict how solar flares could affect Earth, and will measure ocean and land temperatures and aid in search-and-rescue operations.