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 Minotaur launch vehicle from Vandenberg AFB occurred at 01:40 GMT, on 15 April 2006, despite heavy fog.[2] 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.
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.
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 weather models to improve the quality of weather forecasts.[7] On 1 May 2020, the satellite constellation was retired.[8]
^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 )
^Fong, Chen-Joe; Yang, Shan-Kuo; Chu, Chung-Huei; Huang, Cheng-Yung; Yeh, Jia-Jing; Lin, Chen-Tsung; Kuo, Tien-Chuan; Liu, Tie-Yue; Yen, Nick L.; Chen, Shao-Shing; Kuo, Ying-Hwa; Liou, Yuei-An; Chi, Sien (November 2008). "FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC Constellation Spacecraft System Performance: After One Year in Orbit". IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. 46 (11): 3380–3394. Bibcode:2008ITGRS..46.3380F. doi:10.1109/TGRS.2008.2005203. S2CID21159012.
Launches are separated by dots ( • ), payloads by commas ( , ), multiple names for the same satellite by slashes ( / ). Crewed flights are underlined. Launch failures are marked with the † sign. Payloads deployed from other spacecraft are (enclosed in parentheses).
