CryoSat 2

Spacecraft nº:

ESA spacecraft nº: 72

Launch data: Designation  36508 / 10013A Launch date  08 Apr 2010 - 13:57 UT Launch site  Baik, LC-109/95 Launch vehicle  Dnepr-1 Mission  Government: Eart observation Radar Altimetry Mission LEO Earth orbit on Apr 8.77: Perigee / Apogee  710 x 726 km Eccentricity  0.001 Inclination  92.02 deg Period  99.15 min

Spacecraft data:

Mission details:

• Remote sensing, part of ESA's ice mission. Will measure polar ice for three years. Spacecraft has no solar panels.
• Dnepr is a refurbished R-36MUTTKh missile; it was launched by MK Kosmotras from LC109/95, an underground silo at the Baikonur spaceport. The two main stages put the payload module on a suborbital trajectory; the final stage MIRV bus then performs the low-thrust orbit insertion burn, dragging the payload behind it ino a 710 x 726 km x 92.0 deg orbit. The final stage ended up in a higher orbit of 716 x 1119 km.
• The Dnepr 3rd stage pulled the satellite into orbit rather than pushing it. The shroud protected the satellite from the engine exhausts.
• CryoSat-2 will study the thickness of the polar ice caps. It replaces CryoSat-1, which inspected the polar ice cap rather too closely in 2005 when the Rokot launch vehicle malfunctioned and dumped it in the Arctic. The satellite carries a Ku-band radar.