Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate
Joint US-Taiwan meteorological satellite constellation
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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.
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 15 April 2006, despite heavy fog. The satellites, which orbit at an altitude of 500 miles, required over a year to move into the correct positions to provide full global coverage.
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:
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Deployment
All 6 microsatellites were launched on a single launch vehicle and deployed into a single parking orbit after launch. The spacecraft were then 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 were collected during the deployment process, along with experimental validation and calibration.
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. 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.
The data published by the COSMIC-1 constellation has been used in weather models to improve the quality of weather forecasts. On 1 May 2020, the satellite constellation was retired.
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