IPO News Archive

01/06/2003 — Coriolis/WINDSAT Weather Satellite was successfully launched at 6:19 a.m. Monday, January 6th. Successful booster separation was at 0717. Solar panels have successfully deployed and mission telemetry is being received. We have a green mission. A video webcast may be found at http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/payload/missions/coriolis/

The Air Force Coriolis mission will fly the Navy Windsat microwave polarimetric radiometer and Air Force Solar Mass Ejection Imager in a low Earth, sun synchronous orbit. The Windsat radiometer will provide important meteorological information on wind speed and direction at or near the surface of the ocean and the Solar Mass Ejection Imager will provide valuable early warning of coronal mass ejections that affect communications and power distribution systems here on earth.

The Coriolis mission is being assembled and launched by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center's Detachment 12 Space Test Program Office at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, New Mexico using a refurbished Lockheed Martin Titan II booster and a Spectrum Astro spacecraft bus. Spectrum Astro is integrating the spacecraft bus and payloads with the Titan II for launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System program office is participating in the Coriolis flight and will use the Windsat information in reducing risk for the Conical Microwave Imager Sounder.

A photo of the Titan II Space Launch Complex and other images are available on the SPAWAR home page at http://www.spawar.navy.mil and in the Coriolis/Windsat folder.
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