NRL CCOR begins mission on NOAA's GOES-U satellite to track space weather

Written by Copernical Team Friday, 28 June 2024 20:41

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Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 27, 2024

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Compact Coronagraph (CCOR) launched on June 25 aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The CCOR aims to detect and analyze coronal mass ejections (CMEs). NOAA sponsored the NRL to develop CCOR, a small space telescope that cre

NRL CCOR begins mission on NOAA's GOES-U satellite to track space weather
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 27, 2024

The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's (NRL) Compact Coronagraph (CCOR) launched on June 25 aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-U (GOES-U) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The CCOR aims to detect and analyze coronal mass ejections (CMEs).

NOAA sponsored the NRL to develop CCOR, a small space telescope that creates an artificial solar eclipse to image the sun's outer atmosphere, the solar corona.

"CMEs are the explosive release of mass and energy from the solar surface and are a primary driver of space weather and play a central role in understanding the conditions in the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere," said Arnaud Thernisien, a research physicist from the Advanced Sensor Technology Section within the Space Science Division. "The instrument will be used by NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center and the Department of Defense to detect CMEs and will provide an early warning of possible magnetic storms surrounding Earth."

NRL's CCOR is the nation's first operational coronagraph, designed for rapid observation of the corona and resilient to radiation-induced space weather effects. The GOES-R series of satellites features a Solar Pointing Platform for space weather monitoring instruments.

"Watching NRL's CCOR launch into space on the NOAA GOES-U is a testament to our collaborative space efforts and joint capabilities," said NRL Commanding Officer, Capt. Jesse Black. "I am proud to be a part of an organization dedicated to innovation, and our commitment to scientific progress and national security. The science is important to orbital tracking, radio communications, and navigation that affect the operation of ships and aircraft, utilization of the near-space and space environment of the Earth, and the fundamental understanding of natural radiation and geophysical phenomena."

The CCOR design will also be used in the Space Weather Follow On Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) satellite, set to launch in 2025, and the Vigil space weather satellite, an international mission led by the European Space Agency (ESA) scheduled to launch later this decade.