GOCE is dedicated to measuring Earth's gravity field and modelling the geoid with unprecedented accuracy and spatial resolution. Data from this advanced gravity mission will improve our knowledge of ocean circulation, which plays a crucial role in energy exchanges around the globe, sea-level change and Earth-interior processes. GOCE will also help to make significant advances in geodesy and surveying.
Mission details
Launched: 17 March 2009
Duration: about 20 months, including a 3-month commissioning and calibration phase, followed by science measurement phases adapted to a long-eclipse hibernation period.
Mission orbit
Orbit: Sun-synchronous, near-circular, dusk-dawn, low-Earth.
Measurement altitude: about 250 km
Hibernation altitude: above 270 km
Configuration
GOCE is a slim, octagonal spacecraft approximately 5 m long and 1 m in diameter. It is a rigid structure with no moving parts weighing about 1050 kg.
Payload
- gradiometer; 3 pairs of 3-axis, servo-controlled, capacitive accelerometers (each pair separated by a distance of about 0.5 m)
- 12-channel dual-frequency GPS receiver with geodetic quality
- laser retroreflector enables tracking by ground-based lasers
Launch vehicle
Rockot (converted SS-19), from Plesetsk, Russia.
Mission operations
Monitored and controlled at ESA/ESOC via the Kiruna ground station in Sweden and a secondary ground station in Svalbard, Norway.
GOCE mission operations: GOCE operations
More information: GOCE
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