Posted: Sun, Apr 14, 2024, 11:21 AM ET (1521 GMT)
A Falcon 9 launched a Space Force weather satellite Thursday morning. The rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 10:25 am EDT (1425 GMT) and deployed the first Weather System Follow-on Microwave (WSF-M) satellite. The polar-orbiting satellite, built by BAE Systems, has a microwave imager instrument to collect weather data including the measurement of ocean surface wind speed and direction, ice thickness, snow depth, soil moisture and local space weather. The Space Force has ordered a second WSF-M satellite, projected to be delivered by 2028.
