Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate
Names | FORMOSAT-3 |
---|---|
Mission type | Meteorology, Ionosphere, Climatology, and Space weather research |
COSPAR ID | 2006-011A, 2006-011B, 2006-011C, 2006-011D, 2006-011E, 2006-011F, |
SATCAT no. | 29047, 29048, 29049, 29050, 29051, 29052 |
Website | www.nspo.narl.org.tw |
Mission duration | Final: 14 years, 15 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | Orbital Sciences Corporation |
Launch mass | 6 × 155 lb (70 kg) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 15 April 2006, 01:40 Vandenberg SLC-8 |
Contractor | Orbital Sciences |
End of mission | |
Disposal | decommissioned |
Deactivated | 1 May 2020 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Eccentricity | 0 |
Perigee altitude | 500 km (310 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 500 km (310 mi) |
Inclination | 72° |
Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) is a program designed to provide advances in
The total cost of the spacecraft and launch was US$100 million, 80% of which was being provided by NSPO, and the remainder by various U.S. agencies.[1]
After experiencing several delays, the launch of the COSMIC satellite constellation atop a
A follow-up constellation, COSMIC-2, launched 25 June 2019 on a Falcon Heavy rocket.
Instruments
The COSMIC satellites are equipped with three primary forms of instrumentation for remote sensing, including:
- GPS Radio OccultationExperiment
- Tri-band L-band
- Tiny Ionospheric Photometer (TIP)[3]
Deployment
All 6
Status
FM2's power system lost 50% of its output in February 2007, while FM3's solar panel also malfunctioned since August 2007. As a result, both satellites are operating in a degraded state, capable of returning data only during specific solar angles. FM6 went out of control in September 2007, but control was restored by 16 November of the same year.[4][5] FM3 had severe power problems since 6 July 2010. It was declared not functional since then. FM4, FM5, and FM6 have had battery aging problem.[6]
The data published by the COSMIC-1 constellation has been used in
Orbital information
Parking orbit
- Altitude: 500 km
- Inclination: 72 degrees
- Eccentricity: 0
Final orbital configuration
- Altitude: 700 – 800 km
- Inclination: 72 degrees
- Eccentricity: 0
- Spacing between right ascension of ascending node: 24 degrees
- Spacing in mean anomaly between adjacent orbital planes: 45 degrees
See also
- CHAMP
- FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2, replacement mission launched in 2019
- Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment(GRACE)
- MetOp, a European weather satellite that also carries a GPS radio occultation receiver
- National Space Organization
- The TaiWan Ionospheric Model
- 2006 in spaceflight
References
- ^ "COSMIC: About". UCAR COSMIC. Archived from the original on 16 July 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2006.
- ^ Ray, Justin (14 April 2006). "Launch Coverage for Minotaur Rocket' COSMIC Mission". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 15 April 2006.
- ^ "New Satellite System Will Use GPS Signals To Track Hurricanes, Climate Change, and Space Weather" (Press release). UCAR. 12 April 2006. Archived from the original on 26 June 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2006.
- ^ COSMIC Current Status Archived 4 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [1] COSMIC Homepage
- ^ C.-J. Fong, D. Whiteley, E. Yang, K. Cook, V. Chu, B. Schreiner, D. Ector, P. Wilczynski, T.-Y. Liu, & N. L. Yen, "Space & Ground Segment Performance of the FORMOSAT-3 / COSMIC Mission: Four Years in Orbit," Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions, Volume 4, Issue 1, 2011, pp. 599-638 (abstract here: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011AMTD....4..599F )
- S2CID 21159012.
- ^ Chung, Jake (1 May 2020). "Formosat-3 retired after 14 years". Taipei Times. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
External links
- Official site
- COSMIC Mission Profile by NASA's Solar System Exploration
- University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
- UCAR Office of Programs (UOP)
- National SPace Organization Archived 2008-11-21 at the Wayback Machine (NSPO) - COSMIC's Taiwanese counterpart.
- ScienceNOW: The Little Satellite Fleet That Could,