NASA has launched a next-generation satellite into space designed to monitor weather around the world and help improve forecasts.

The satellite, called the Joint Polar Satellite System-1, is a joint venture between US space agency and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which provides weather reports and forecasts.

The satellite will orbit Earth fourteen times each day from one pole to the other at 512 miles (824 kilometers) above the planet, “providing scientists full global coverage twice a day.