The FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 Satellite Mission: Expanding the Observational Capabilities for the Space Weather Community

FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 is a joint satellite program between the Taiwan and the United States that will provide expanded neutral atmosphere and space weather data for operational and research communities. The mission is expected to launch by early 2019, and will consist of six satellites orbiting the equator at 23 degrees inclination. Each satellite will consist of a mission payload and two science payloads. The mission payload is the Tri-GNSS Receiver System (TGRS), designed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Science payloads include the Ion Velocity Meter (IVM) designed by the University of Texas at Dallas, and the Radio Frequency Beacon (RFB) designed by SRI. The payloads will provide multiple observation types including GNSS limb and overhead TEC, electron density profiles, and amplitude/phase scintillation (TGRS), in-situ ion densities and velocities (IVM), and TEC between the satellite and ground-stations (RFB). With six orbital planes, the satellites will simultaneously observe longitudinal variations with 30 degree spacing. Data collected from the constellation of satellites will be able to resolve large, medium, and small scale ionospheric structures. This presentation will summarize the objectives of the mission from a space weather perspective, update the current mission status, outline the technical capabilities of each instrument, describe the early orbit checkout plans, and provide a summary of the calibration and validation plans.