32765 - C/NOFS

C/NOFS (Communication/Navigation Outage Forcasting System) is an American military satellite that was launched by a Pegasus rocket released from a L-1011 aircraft flying out of Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein in Marshal Islands at 08:00 UT on 2008 April 16. The initial orbital parameters were period 97.3 min, apogee 853 km, perigee 405 km, and inclination 13 degrees.

The 395-kg craft monitors the conditions that lead to the generation of irregularities/bubbles that produce radio scintillations in the equatorial ionosphere and to warn against imminent disruption/degradation of military communications. It carries an instrument called CINDI (Coupled Ion Neutral Dynamic Investigation) consisting of an Ion Velocity Meter (IVM), a Neutral Wind Monitor (NWM), and a Vector Electric Field Instrument (VEFI). CINDI is a NASA-sponsored investigation.

C/NOFS is a joint effort between the DOD Space Test Program and AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratory). The space test program provides the spacecraft, launch vehicle, launch and first year on-orbit operations. AFRL is responsible for the multi-instrument payload, payload integration and test, model development, data center operations, and product generation and distribution.

Alternate Names

Communication/Navigation Outage Forecast System

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 2008-04-16
Launch Vehicle: Pegasus
Launch Site: Kwajalein, Republic of the Marshall Islands