NASA has launched new Satellite to monitor extreme Weather such as hurricanes It will also track dust storms, landslides and lightning over western hemisphere GOES-T spacecraft could even spot wildfires before they're reported on ground It will reach operational orbit some 22,000 miles (35,000 km) over the equator

NASA has launched a new satellite that will monitor extreme weather including dust storms, landslides and hurricanes over Earth's western hemisphere.

Blast off: An Atlas V rocket, carrying America's newest weather satellite, lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Tuesday (pictured).

The NASA-supported GOES satellites 'provide the only continuous coverage of weather and hazardous environmental conditions in the Western Hemisphere,' said NOAA program director Pam Sullivan.

Once in final position, GOES-18 will be used to track not just weather but wildfires — one of its most important capabilities for the western United States — as well as flash floods, dust storms, fog and landslides.

GOES-17's operations were stunted by a faulty cooling system on its main imaging instrument, but it is still partly functional, while GOES-16 will remain stationed over the eastern portion of the hemisphere.