SARAL

Spacecraft nº:

Indian spacecraft nº: 68

Launch data: Designation  39086 / 13009A Launch date  25 Feb 2013 - 12:31 UT Launch site  Sriharikota Launch vehicle  PSLV-CA (C20) Mission  Gov.: Earth Science, Altimeter Sun-Synchronous LEO Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  782 x 785 km Eccentricity  2,10E-04 Inclination  98.5 deg Period  100.53 min

Artist's concept of the SARAL satellite in orbit. Credit: CNES

Spacecraft data: Prime manufacturer  ISRO, CNES Platform  Minisatellite-SSB (SSB-1) Operator  ISRO, CNES Mass at launch  346 kg (407?) Dry Mass   kg Basic shape   Dimension (m)   Equipment  ARGOS, ALTIKA Solar array  2 deployable solar arrays Stabilization   Propulsion   DC power  906 W Design lifetime  5 yrs - still active

Description:

• An ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization) satellite, SARAL (Satellite with ARgos and ALtika), will embark the AltiKa altimeter (working in Ka-band, 35 GHz), built by CNES, as well as a Doris instrument. Signal frequencies in the Ka-band will enable better observation of ice, rain, coastal zones, land masses (forests, etc.), and wave heights.
• The Saral mission is complementary to Jason-2. Its objectives are:
  • To realize precise, repetitive global measurements of sea surface height, significant wave heights and wind speed for
    • developping operational oceanography;
    • understanding of climate and developing
    • forecasting capabilities;
    • operational meteorology.
  • To ensure, from 2009, in association with Jason-2, the continuity of the service given today by the altimeters onboard Envisat and Jason-1,
  • To answer the need expressed by the ocean and climate study international programs, and contribute to the building of a global ocean observing system.
  • This mission is a cooperation between CNES and ISRO.

Mission details:

• Launch delayed from Dec 12, 2012.
• The 145-foot[44.2-m]-tall rocket blasted off on Feb 25, 2013 at 1231 GMT (7:31 a.m. EST) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on India's east coast, where it was 6:01 p.m. local time.
• PSLV-C20 flew in the core-alone configuration (without strapon boosters) into a 770 x 787 km x 98.6 deg, 1805LT sun-synchronous orbit.
• The top payload, SARAL, is a joint project between the French space agency CNES and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) for ocean studies; its main payload is the Altika Ka-band altimeter.
• In the lower part of the dual launch adapter were two Canadian small satellites, Sapphire and NEOSSat.
  The two 14 kg CanX-3 satellites use the UTIAS/Toronto Generic Nanosatellite Bus.
  AAUSAT3 is a 1U cubesat built by Aalborg University in Denmark and carries an AIS ship tracking receiver and a GPS reciever.
  STRaND-1 is a 3U cubesat, a project of Surrey Satellite and the Surrey Space Centre.

Satellite tracking: