Orbital Sciences Corp. launched a constellation of small scientific satellites April 14 for Taiwan’s civilian space agency, Orbital announced.

The Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) mission, also known as Formosat-3, consists of six small remote-sensing satellites and was placed into low-Earth orbit by an Orbital Minotaur rocket. The mission originated from Vanderberg Air Force Base, Calif.

The spacecraft, based on Orbital’s Micostar platform, were developed, manufactured and tested under a collaborative project between Taiwan’s National Space Program Office, several U.S. government agencies and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. The spacecraft will collect data on the atmosphere that can be used to improve weather forecasting, climate monitoring and understanding of the ionosphere.

This was the fifth mission for the Minotaur 1, a combination of Minuteman ICBM and Orbital Pegasus hardware reserved for use by the U.S. Air Force. The flight was the first to use a new lightweight orbital flight computer developed by Orbital Sciences and also used a telemetry subsystem that uses the U.S. government’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System to relay data from the launch vehicle once it moves beyond the range of ground-based receivers.