UCF has role in NASA experiment on SES satellite

A NASA investigation with ties to the University of Central Florida was recently integrated into the payload of a commercial communications satellite.

NASA's Global-Scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, will employ instruments to measure densities and temperatures in Earth's thermosphere and ionosphere. Scientists hope GOLD will fill a gap in understanding of Sun-Earth connections.

UCF's Florida Space Institute is the principal investigator for the project. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Colorado Boulder Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics are also involved.

[SpaceX targeting Thursday Falcon 9 launch from KSC and Cape landing]

[Schedule of upcoming Florida rocket launches]

The small experiment was integrated into SES-14, a satellite built by Airbus Defence and Space for Luxembourg-based SES.

SES-14 is expected to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center later this year. It will provide video and data coverage for the Americas, Atlantic Ocean, Western Europe and northwest Africa.

Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook at @EmreKelly.