The GOES Imager is a multi-channel instrument designed to sense radiant and solar-reflected energy from sampled areas of the Earth. The multi-element spectral channels simultaneously sweep east-west and west-east along a north-to-south path by means of a two-axis mirror scan system. The instrument can produce full-Earth disc images, sector images containing the edges of the Earth, and various sizes of area scans completely enclosed within the Earth scene using a new flexible scan system. A five-channel monitoring system makes it possible to produce a wide variety of image products from imager data.