CloudSat
CloudSat is an inactive NASA Earth observation satellite, which was launched on a Delta II rocket on April 28, 2006, and is awaiting disposal. It used radar to measure the altitude and properties of clouds, adding to information on the relationship between clouds and climate in order to help resolve questions about global warming.
Artist's Concept of CloudSat | |
| Mission type | Atmospheric research |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 2006-016A |
| SATCAT no. | 29107 |
| Website | CloudSat home page |
| Mission duration | Planned: 22 months Elapsed: 17 years, 11 months, 12 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | BCP-2000 |
| Manufacturer | Ball Aerospace |
| Launch mass | 700 kg (1,543 lb) |
| Dimensions | 2.54 × 2.03 × 2.29 m (8.3 × 6.7 × 7.5 ft) (H × L × W) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | April 28, 2006, 10:02:16 UTC |
| Rocket | Delta II 7420-10C |
| Launch site | Vandenberg SLC-2W |
| End of mission | |
| Disposal | Passivation |
| Deactivated | December 20, 2023, 11:10:30 UTC |
| Last contact | April 2024 (planned) |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | LEO |
| Semi-major axis | 7,080.59 km (4,399.67 mi) |
| Eccentricity | 0.0000824 |
| Perigee altitude | 709 km (441 mi) |
| Apogee altitude | 710 km (440 mi) |
| Inclination | 98.23 degrees |
| Period | 98.83 minutes |
| RAAN | 330.82 degrees |
| Argument of perigee | 91.62 degrees |
| Mean anomaly | 14.57 degrees |
| Mean motion | 14.57 |
| Epoch | 25 January 2015, 03:10:38 UTC |
| Revolution no. | 46,515 |
It operated in daytime-only operations from 2011 to 2023 due to battery malfunction, requiring sunlight to power the radar. On December 20, 2023, the Cloud Profiling Radar was deactivated for the final time, ending the data collection portion of the mission.
The mission was selected under NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder program in 1999. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colorado, designed and built the spacecraft.
CloudSat's primary mission was scheduled to continue for 22 months to allow more than one seasonal cycle to be observed.