In April 2006, the pioneering six-satellite COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate) mission, sponsored primarily by Taiwan's National Space Organization and managed in the U.S. by UCAR, was launched on a Minotaur rocket from Vandenberg AFB, becoming the first dedicated constellation for demonstrating the operational use of GPS-RO data in weather forecasting. COSMIC is expected to operate until about 2011.