Weather Satellite History By MegMunday17 Apr 1, 1960 First Weather Satellite Launched Jul 2, 1965 By this time, ten TIROS satellites were launched. Feb 3, 1966 The next series of satellites, named ESSA, were launched starting February 3, 1966. Feb 26, 1969 The last ESSA satellites were launched. Jan 23, 1970 ITOS 1 was launched. Oct 3, 1970 NOAA established Jul 29, 1976 Last ITOS launched. Oct 13, 1978 First TIROS-N launched Jul 23, 1981 Last TIROS-N launched May 13, 1998 NOAA-15 launched.