# CFOSAT
*missions*

## Specifications
- **operator**: cnes
- **actual launch**: 2018-10-29
- **current status**: degraded
- **orbit type**: Sun-synchronous orbit, about 500-519 km altitude, 06:00-07:00 descending equator crossing time
- **tasking supported**: false
- **current geographic priority**: Global sea-state and ocean-surface wind observations; WMO records SWIM active and SCAT degraded/inactive after 2022.
- **launch vehicle**: casc-long-march-2c
- **entity type**: mission
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-14
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: cnes
- **attributes**: {"operator":"cnes","actual_launch":"2018-10-29","current_status":"degraded","orbit_type":"Sun-synchronous orbit, about 500-519 km altitude, 06:00-07:00 descending equator crossing time","tasking_supported":false,"current_geographic_priority":"Global sea-state and ocean-surface wind observations; WMO records SWIM active and SCAT degraded/inactive after 2022.","launch_vehicle":"casc-long-march-2c"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
CFOSAT (Chinese-French Oceanography Satellite) is a joint CNES-CNSA mission for simultaneous sea-surface wind and ocean-wave observations, launched on 2018-10-29.[^aviso-cfosat][^ceos-cfosat] It flies a sun-synchronous orbit at approximately 500-519 km altitude with a morning descending equator crossing.[^wmo-cfosat] The satellite carries two radar instruments: SWIM, a Ku-band rotating multi-beam radar altimeter developed by CNES for directional wave spectra and significant wave height retrieval, and SCAT, a Ku-band scatterometer built by the Chinese side for ocean-surface wind measurement.[^aviso-cfosat][^wmo-swim] As of the research date, SWIM remains active; the SCAT scatterometer has been inactive or degraded since approximately 2022 per WMO OSCAR records, while CEOS lists mission status as operational nominal.[^wmo-cfosat][^ceos-cfosat] CFOSAT supports global sea-state and ocean-surface wind monitoring for marine meteorology and climate applications.[^aviso-cfosat]

## Compositional position
- CFOSAT --[mission_payloads]--> cfosat-swim (products)
- CFOSAT --[mission_payloads]--> cfosat-scat (products)
- CFOSAT --[related-topic]--> ocean-surface-winds (topics)
- CFOSAT --[related-topic]--> sea-state (topics)

## Sources
- [aviso-cfosat] | AVISO+ mission page: CFOSAT | https://www.aviso.altimetry.fr/en/missions/current-missions/cfosat.html | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14
- [wmo-cfosat] | CFOSAT, WMO OSCAR satellite record | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/cfosat | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-14
- [ceos-cfosat] | CFOSAT mission summary, CEOS EO Handbook | https://database.eohandbook.com/database/missionsummary.aspx?missionID=723 | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-14
- [wmo-swim] | SWIM, WMO OSCAR instrument record | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/instruments/view/swim | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-14

---
Source: https://eo-atlas.org/missions/cfosat
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)