Full name: CryoSat

Instrument: SAR Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL), supported by Doppler Orbit and Radio Positioning Integration by Satellite (DORIS) and Laser Retro-Reflector (LRR) for precision orbit determination

Mass: 720 kg at launch, including 37 kg of fuel

Power: 2 × GaAs body-mounted solar arrays, each delivering 850 W; 78 Ah Li-ion battery

Launched: 8 April 2010

Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

Launcher: Russian/Ukrainian Dnepr based on SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile

Launch provider: International Space Company Kosmotras

Orbit: Mean altitude of 717 km and inclination of 92°; low Earth, polar, non-Sun-synchronous

Mission control: ESA’s European Satellite Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany

Ground station: Science data downloaded to ESA’s ground station in Kiruna, Sweden

Data processing: Data distributed directly to users from the ground station in Kiruna, Sweden; distribution and mission planning managed via ESA’s Centre for Earth Observation (ESRIN) in Frascati, Italy; long-term archive at a dedicated facility at the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) in Toulouse, France

Nominal life: three years (including a six-month commissioning phase) with a possible two-year extension

Satellite Prime Contractor: EADS Astrium