Landsat 7

USA

Launch data:

Designation	25682 / 99020A
Launch date	15 Apr 1999
Launch site	Va, SLC-2W
Launch vehicle	Delta-7920-10C (#268)
Mission:	Remote sensing
Earth orbit on:
Perigee/Apogee	705 km sun synchronous (descending node: 10:00 AM)
Inclination	98.2°
Period	99 min (16-day cycle)

Launch under the MELVS contract. The satellite will be operated by NASA's Goddard until Oct 2000 and then be transfered to thr US Geological Survey.

TDRS used for telemetry and command:
Telemetry: 2287.5 MHz (1.216 Mbps or upto 4.864 Mbps in SSA mode)
Command: 2106.4 MHz (125 kbps or upto 1 kbps in SSA mode)
Data: 8212.5 & 8342.5 MHz (150 Mbps each, can be used at the same time)

Description:

Landsat 7 was designed to last for five years, and has the capacity to collect and transmit up to 532 images per day. It is in a polar, sun-synchronous orbit, meaning it scans across the entire earth's surface. With an altitude of 705 kilometres +/- 5 kilometres, it takes 232 orbits, or 16 days, to do so. The satellite weighs 1973 kg, is 4.04 m long, and 2.74 m in diameter. Unlike its predecessors, Landsat 7 has a solid state memory of 378 gigabits (roughly 100 images). The main instrument on board Landsat 7 is the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+).

External resources

http://geo.arc.nasa.gov/sge/landsat/l7.html

Ref: #15, #98 - update: 06.01.11