C/NOFS

C/NOFS, or Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System was a <a href="/facts/United_States_Air_Force/7MxWBYlc">USAF</a> satellite developed by the <a href="/facts/Air_Force_Research_Laboratory/QGBMMKKa">Air Force Research Laboratory</a> (AFRL) Space Vehicles Directorate to investigate and forecast <a href="/facts/Scintillation_(astronomy)/M5v7RJj6">scintillations</a> in the <a href="/facts/Earth/HLLmDfj0">Earth</a>'s <a href="/facts/Ionosphere/mT9tTBE5">ionosphere</a>. It was launched by an <a href="/facts/Orbital_Sciences_Corporation/WNB0SKlF">Orbital Sciences Corporation</a> <a href="/facts/Pegasus_(rocket)/w8swDwhu">Pegasus-XL</a> <a href="/facts/Launch_vehicle/g1GCGFJB">launch vehicle</a> at 17:02:48 <a href="/facts/Coordinated_Universal_Time/2EnjfSyu">UTC</a> on 16 April 2008 and decayed on 28 November 2015.
The satellite, which was operated by the <a href="/facts/Space_Test_Program/2El3p9sv">Space Test Program</a> (STP), allowed the U.S. military to predict the effects of ionospheric activity on signals from communication and navigation satellites, outages of which could potentially cause problems in battlefield situations.
C/NOFS had a <a href="/facts/Three-axis_stabilization/hE6aMu26">three-axis stabilization</a> system equipped with seven sensors. It was placed into <a href="/facts/Low_Earth_orbit/rq1TwayJ">low Earth orbit</a> with an <a href="/facts/Orbital_inclination/TQCFWyfd">orbital inclination</a> of 13.00°, a <a href="/facts/Apsis/VaL6ow9w">perigee</a> of 405 km (252 mi) and an <a href="/facts/Apsis/VaL6ow9w">apogee</a> of 853 km (530 mi). It carried the <a href="/facts/CINDI/GRAS1Xl4">CINDI</a> experiment for <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a>. Launch had been scheduled for 2003, but was delayed for a number of reasons.

C/NOFS open-in-new

C/NOFS