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FORTE, which stands for Fast On-orbit Recording of Transient Events, is a lightweight satellite designed as a test bed for
technology to monitor compliance with arms control treaties. Development and construction of the satellite cost about $35
million. FORTE's instruments detect, record and analyze bursts of radio energy arising from near Earth's surface. A joint project
of the Department of Energy's Los Alamos and Sandia national laboratories, the satellite also gathers data on the physics of
lightning and the ionosphere, the electrically conducting region of the atmosphere from about 50 to 600 miles above Earth.