Cosmic

COSMIC is also a code name used to label NATO classified information.

Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) is a program designed to provide advances in meteorology, ionospheric research, climatology, and space weather by using GPS satellites in conjunction with low Earth orbiting (LEO) satellites. The term "COSMIC" may refer to either the organization itself or the constellation of satellites (also known as FORMOSAT-3 in Taiwan). The constellation is a joint U.S.-Taiwanese project with major participants including the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), the National Science Foundation, the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) on the U.S. side and the National Space Organization (NSPO) on the Taiwanese side.

The total cost of the project is US$100 million, 80% of which is being provided by NSPO, and the remainder by various U.S. agencies.

After experiencing several delays, the launch of the COSMIC satellite constellation atop a Minotaur launch vehicle from Vandenberg AFB occurred at 01:40 GMT, on April 15 2006, despite heavy fog. The satellites, which orbit at an altitude of 500 miles, will take over a year to move into the correct posistions to provide full global coverage.

Contents

1 Instruments
2 Deployment
3 Orbital information

3.1 Parking orbit
3.2 Final orbital configuration

4 See also
5 Notes & references
6 External links

Instruments

Components of a FORMOSAT-3 / COSMIC satellite

The COSMIC satellites are be equipped with three primary forms of instrumentation for remote sensing, as follows:

GPS Occultation Experiment
Tri-band beacon (TBB)
Tiny Ionospheric Photometer (TIP)

Sources:

Deployment

All 6 microsatellites were launched on a single launch vehicle and deployed into a single parking orbit after launch. The spacecraft will then be deployed into separate orbital planes through the use of precession due to the oblateness of the Earth and raised to a final orbital altitude over the course of several months. Scientific data will be collected during the deployment process.

Orbital information

Parking orbit

Altitude: 500 km
Inclination: 72 degrees
Eccentricity: 0 degrees

Final orbital configuration

Altitude: 700 - 800 km
Inclination: 72 degrees
Eccentricity: 0 degrees
Spacing between right ascension of ascending nodes: 24 degrees
Spacing in mean anomaly between adjacent orbital planes: 45 degrees

Notes & references

External links

[Official site]
[University Corporation for Atmospheric Research] (UCAR)
[UCAR Office of Programs] (UOP)
[National SPace Organization] (NSPO) - COSMIC's Taiwanese counterpart

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