The Chinese (CNSA) and French (CNES) Space Agencies propose to carry out jointly a satellite mission devoted to the monitoring of the ocean surface wind and wave, and related ocean and atmospheric science and applications. This is the so-called CFOSAT project (Chinese-French Oceanic SATellite).

The primary objective of CFOSAT is to monitor at the global scale the wind and waves at the ocean surface in order to improve:

The wind and wave forecast for marine meteorology (including severe events),
the ocean dynamics modeling and prediction,
our knowledge of climate variability,
fundamental knowledge on surface processes linked to wind and waves.

For that purpose, CFOSAT will implement on satellite two main instruments: a wave-scatterometer spectrometer (SWIM: Surface Waves Investigation and Monitoring) supplied by CNES, and a scatterometer (SCAT) supplied by CNSA to measure ocean winds. Both are microwave active instruments (radars).

The second objective of CFOSAT is to improve the knowledge and modeling of sea-surface processes: sea-state evolution, role of waves in the atmosphere and ocean, sea-ice properties and evolution in marginal ice zones, coastal processes, and determination of ocean surface parameters by remote sensing.

As an opportunity, CFOSAT will also be used to complement other satellite missions for the estimation of land surface parameters (in particular soil moisture and soil roughness), and polar ice sheet characteristics.