Background on the IOX Experiment

IOX is part of the experimental payload of the PICOSat satellite which is part of the Department of Defense (DoD) Space Test Program (STP) executed by the Air Force. PICOSat is a microsatellite built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) in Guildford, UK and partially funded through the DoD Foreign Comparative Testing Program. PICOSat was launched on the NASA Kodiak Star mission on 29 Sept 2001 from the Alaskan Spaceport in Kodiak, AK.

The Ionospheric Occultation Experiment (IOX), with Paul Straus of Aerospace Corp. as the principal investigator, has been developed by the USAF Space and Missile Systems Center. It uses a space based dual frequency GPS receiver to measure ionospheric properties. IOX demonstrates remote sensing techniques for future DoD space systems. Improves operational models for ionospheric and thermospheric forecasts. JPL will be a processing center for IOX data.