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Envisat 1

Envisat 1 [Astrium]

Envisat (Environment Satellite) is an advanced polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite which providew measurements of the atmosphere, ocean, land and ice over a five year period and was launched in March 2002 on an Ariane-5G rocket by the European Space Agency (ESA).

The Polar Platform (PPF) has two elements: 

  • The SM houses the main satellite support functions, such as command and control, communications with the ground, power, attitude and orbit control, and propulsion.
  • The PLM houses Envisat instruments and PPF payload support equipment (data management and communications, electrical distribution).

The instruments aboard the PLM include: 

  • Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS);
  • Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars (GOMOS);
  • Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography (SCIAMACHY);
  • Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS);
  • Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR);
  • Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR);
  • Radar Altimeter 2 (RA-2);
  • Microwave Radiometer (MWR);
  • Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS);
  • Laser Retro-Reflector (LRR).

The Envisat data supportw Earth science research and allow monitoring of the evolution of environmental and climatic changes. It also facilitates the development of operational and commercial applications.

Communication with Envisat 1 was lost on 8th April 2012 and the satellite was declared lost in May 2012 after operating for 10 years.

Nation: Europe
Type / Application: Earth observation
Operator: ESA
Contractors: Astrium
Equipment: MIPAS, GOMOS, SCIAMACHY, MERIS, AATSR, ASAR, RA-2, MWR, DORIS, LRR
Configuration: PPF/SPOT Mk.2
Propulsion:
Power: Deployable solar array, batteries
Lifetime: 5 years (design); 10 years (achieved)
Mass: 8211 kg
Orbit: 784 km × 790 km, 98.56°
Satellite COSPAR Date LS Launch Vehicle Remarks
Envisat 1 2002-009A 01.03.2002 Ko ELA-3 Ariane-5G

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