U.S. weather satellite fails, shut down

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- An important weather satellite monitoring the U.S. East Coast has shut down, necessitating activation of a spare satellite to take its place, officials said.

After several days of glitches and problems, the GOES-13 failed Monday, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials said.

Launched in 2006, its mission was to track weather systems across the eastern United States while another satellite performed similar functions for the western U.S. region.

GEOS-13's monitoring responsibilities have been transferred to a replacement, GOES-14, which was launched in 2009 into a storage orbit as an in-space spare if needed, SPACE.com reported.

"NOAA maintains backup GOES satellites in case unforeseen events occur, providing full redundancy for monitoring severe weather over the United States and its territories," NOAA officials said.

The replacement GOES-14 will be the primary monitoring satellite for East Coast weather until the GOES-13 satellite's malfunction can be diagnosed and repaired, they said.