SORCE

USA, NASA

Spacecraft n°:

USA satellite n°:

SOLar Radiation and Climate Experiment

Launch data:

Designation	27651 / 03004A
Launch date	25 Jan 2003 - 20:13:35 UT
Launch site	CC, L-1011 RW3
Launch vehicle	Pegasus-XL (#33)
Mission	Observation of high atmosphere
Earth orbit:
Perigee / Apogee	610 / 650 km
Inclination	40.00°
Period	97.31 min

Operated by NASA, designed by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado.

Specifications:

Prime contractor	USA, OSC
Platform	Leostar-2
Mass at launch	287 kg
Mass in orbit	268 kg
Dimension
Solar array
Stabilization	3-axis
DC power	EOL: 730 W
Design lifetime	5 years

S-band uplink at 2 kbps, downlink at 1.5 Mbps. TDRS compatible.

Will carry four instruments to study and measure solar irradiance, the main source of energy in the Earth's atmosphere. The SORCE programme merges two previous efforts: the Solar-Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment/Solar Atmospheric Variability Explorer (SOLSTICE/SAVE) mission and the Total Solar Irradiance Mission (TSIM).

Payload:

Total Irradiation Monitor (TIM): covers all visual and infrared wavelengths. 7.9 kg.

Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SIM): rotating Fery prism spectrometer with a bolometer output that covers the 200-2,000 nm band at a resolution of a few nanometers. 22 kg

SOLar STellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE): UV grating spectrometers with photomultiplier detectors that cover the 115-320 nm band at a resolution of 0.1 nm. 36 kg

Xuv Photometer System (XPS): photometer to monitor the x-ray and UV band at 1-34 nm. 3.6 kg

Ref: #3(SD367), #7, #15(31.05.03) - update: 20.08.09