EarthCARE
Sign in to saveAlso known as Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer, Earth Explorer 6, Hakuryū, White Dragon
EarthCARE (derived from Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer), nicknamed Hakuryū (Japanese for "white dragon"), is a joint European/Japanese (ESA / JAXA / NICT) satellite, the sixth of ESA's Earth Explorer Programme. The main goal of the mission is the observation and characterization of clouds and aerosols as well as measuring the reflected solar radiation and the infrared radiation emitted from Earth's surface and atmosphere.
Key facts
- Spaceflight.name
- EarthCARE
- Spaceflight.image
- Cleaning EarthCARE ESA25462753.jpg
- Spaceflight.image_caption
- EarthCARE being prepared for shipment to launch site
- Spaceflight.insignia
- Earthcare.jpg
- Spaceflight.mission_type
- Earth observation
- Spaceflight.operator
- ESA / JAXA / NICT
- Spaceflight.COSPAR_ID
- 2024-101A
- Spaceflight.SATCAT
- 59908
- Spaceflight.mission_duration
- 3 years (planned)(in progress)
- Spaceflight.spacecraft_bus
- AstroBus-L
- Spaceflight.manufacturer
- EADS Astrium
- Spaceflight.dry_mass
- 2037 kg
- Spaceflight.launch_mass
- 2350 kg
- Spaceflight.dimensions
- 2.5 x 19 m
- Spaceflight.power
- 1700 W
- Spaceflight.launch_date
- 28 May 2024 22:20 UTC
- Spaceflight.launch_rocket
- Falcon 9 Block 5
- Spaceflight.launch_site
- Vandenberg SLC-4E
via Wikipedia infobox
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
9 sectionsContents
- Background
- Mission
- Science
- Timeline
- Development
- In orbit
- See also
- References
- External links
EarthCARE (derived from Earth Cloud, Aerosol and Radiation Explorer), nicknamed Hakuryū (Japanese for "white dragon"), is a joint European/Japanese (ESA / JAXA / NICT) satellite, the sixth of ESA's Earth Explorer Programme. The main goal of the mission is the observation and characterization of clouds and aerosols as well as measuring the reflected solar radiation and the infrared radiation emitted from Earth's surface and atmosphere.
==Background== As the prime contractor, Astrium was responsible for the satellite's design, development and integration. Design and construction began in early 2009. As of January 2011, the total budget for the project was £500 million (€590 million/US$810 million). A significant proportion of the project was manufactured in the UK, the main structure of the spacecraft was built by RUAG Space in Switzerland and subsequently completed in Astrium's Stevenage facility, while one of the instruments was made in Sevenoaks by SSTL and another in Bristol, Somerset by SEA Group Ltd, now part of Thales Alenia Space UK.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “EarthCARE” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.