OCO (ESSP 5)

Launch data: Designation  09F01 Launch date  24 Feb 2009 - 09:55 UT Launch site  Va, 576E Launch vehicle  Taurus-3110 (1e flight) Mission  Remote sensing Decay  24 Feb 2009

Spacecraft data:

Mission details:

• Had to joins Aura, Parasol, Calipso, Aqua and Cloudsat in the A-Train.
• Orbiting Carbon Observatory was a remote sensing satellite, launched for NASA and using an Orbital Sciences Corporation LEOStar-2 platform. It was intended to monitor the amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere from a polar 705 km orbit.
• The payload fairing failed to separate and the added mass being carried by the Taurus-XL final stage meant that orbital velocity could not be attained. It is believed that the rocket and payload crashed near the Antarctic.
• The OCO satellite reached an approximately -129 x 614 km orbit on Feb 24, 2009 - just 0.2 km/s short of orbital velocity, thanks to the extra mass of the fairing which failed to separate.