On Friday, SLS worked with engineers from NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) to install the Portable Lightning Instrumentation (PLI) system at Launch Complex 41 to support the upcoming launch of the GOES-T mission. GOES-T is the third spacecraft in NASA/NOAA’s next-generation ‘GOES-R’ series of weather/environmental monitoring satellites. The PLI will measure transient currents on the vehicle/spacecraft umbilical cables in addition to electric and magnetic fields in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle. The PLI was designed and fabricated by SLS and has been used to support NASA missions from both Kennedy Space Center and Vandenberg Space Force Base since 2017.

The installation of the PLI was also filmed by representatives from the NASA Public Affairs office for an upcoming media release.