The U.S. Air Force successfully launched a Titan II booster from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 6:19 a.m. Jan. 6.

The joint government and industry project, dubbed “Coriolis,” places a U.S. Navy windsat radiometer and an Air Force solar mass ejection imager in a low Earth-sun synchronous orbit. The windsat radiometer will provide meteorological information on wind speed and direction at or near the surface of the ocean. The solar mass ejection imager will provide early warning of coronal mass ejections that affect communications and power distribution systems on Earth.