Update! Upcoming Launch February 8th!
The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) has been delayed and will now launch on Sunday February 8th at 4:10pm Arizona time (6:10pm Eastern) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Watch LIVE via NASA TV!
This NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) observatory will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, by the United States Air Force and NASA. Communication is extremely important in any endeavor, but imagine how important it is that all of these different entities work together seamlessly!
From the mission's fact sheet: The observatory "supports a 15 - 60 min lead time on geomagnetic storm warnings; these storms, often caused by solar wind, can disrupt transportation, power grids, telecommunications and GPS."