[6][7] Other participants in CYGNSS' development include the Southwest Research Institute, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and Surrey Satellite Technology.

[15][16] CYGNSS will measure the ocean surface wind field using a bi-static scatterometry technique based on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) signals, primarily GPS.

[12][18] The CYGNSS science goal is to understand the coupling between ocean surface properties, moist atmospheric thermodynamics, radiation, and convective dynamics in the inner core of a tropical cyclone.

The mission will also measure ocean surface wind speed in the storm's inner core with sufficient frequency to resolve genesis and rapid intensification.

As secondary goal, the project will support the operational hurricane forecast community by producing and providing ocean surface wind speed data products.

The rocket was deployed from a customized Lockheed L-1011 aircraft, Orbital ATK's Stargazer, from a position 201 kilometers (125 mi) off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

[22] By the end of the day on December 15, all eight microsats had their solar arrays deployed and were sun-pointed with batteries charging in safe condition, ready to begin engineering commissioning.

It allows for more satellites to be built for the same net cost, resulting in more frequent sampling of short lived, extreme weather events like tropical cyclones.

[16] Differential drag maneuvers were conducted throughout the first year-and-a-half of on-orbit operations, and have resulted in a well-dispersed constellation that is able to make measurements with the desired sampling properties.

[27] Soil moisture has been estimated using CYGNSS data at numerous sites in the continental U.S. and is found to be in close agreement with independent measurements made by ground sensors and by another satellite.