Quickscat

USA

Quick Scattermeter, also called Seawinds

Launch data:

Designation	25789 / 99034A
Launch date	20 Jun 1999
Launch site	Va, SLC-4W
Launch vehicle	Titan-2(23)G (#20)
Mission	Remote sensing
Perigee/Apogee	803 km sun-synchronous (ascending node crossing: 6:00)
Inclination	98.7°
Period

To replace the NSCAT payload aboard Adeos 1

Specifications

Prime contractor	Ball Aerospace
Platform	BCP-2000
Mass at launch	970 kg
Payload mass	200 kg
Dimension	2.2 x 1.7 x 1.4 m
Solar array
Stabilization	3-axis
DC power	300 W
Design lifetime	2 years

The payload (Seawinds) is provided by JPL. It's a specialized microwave radar that measures near-surface wind speed and direction under all weather and cloud conditions over Earth's oceans. It will collect wind-speed and wind direction data. The radar works ar 13.4 GHz. It has a 1800 km swath width. Can measure winds from 3 to 20 meter per second with an accuracy of 2 meters and direction with an accuracy of 20°

S-band telemetry and command
data downlink in S-band at 2 Mbps; 2 kbps S-band uplink
8 Gbit solid-state recorder

Ball will provide launch support and mission control and operations for a two-year period following launch.

Mission details:

NASA's Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) was lofted into space at 7:15 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on Saturday (6/19/99) atop a U.S. Air Force Titan II launch vehicle from Space Launch Complex 4 West at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. The satellite was launched in a south-southwesterly direction, soaring over the Pacific Ocean at sunset as it ascended into space to achieve an initial elliptical orbit with a maximum altitude of about 800 kilometers (500 miles) above Earth's surface.

External resources

http://winds.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/quikscat/quikindex.html

Ref: #15, #83 - update: 09.04.10