Science
FORMOSAT 7-3
US-Taiwan Atmospheric Sounding Constellation (COSMIC-2) · NOAA / Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) / US Space Force
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FORMOSAT 7-3, one of six satellites launched together in June 2019 — on the very same Falcon Heavy rocket that carried DSX to its radiation-belt mission — to read Earth's atmosphere by watching GPS signals bend as they pass through it. This satellite contributes up to 6,000 atmospheric soundings a day — vertical slices of temperature and humidity from the surface up to 30 miles high, built by watching how GPS signals bend passing through the air rather than any camera or radar.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 340 mi (546–547 km)
- Inclination
- 24.0°
- One orbit
- 95.4 minutes15.1 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 44343
- Int’l designator
- 2019-036E
- Launched
- 2019
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 22 Sep 2026.
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