The first of a series As part of ESA’s Living Planet programme, the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) is the first of a series of Earth Explorer satellites in orbit, designed to provide information for understanding critical Earth system variables.   Addressing the challenges of global change, Europe has launched the GOCE satellite to map our planet’s gravity field in unprecedented detail.       Last update: 18 March 2009 In depth  •  Earth Explorers (http://www.esa.int/esaLP/LPearthexp.html)  •  Living Planet (http://www.esa.int/esaLP/index.html) ESA on Youtube  •  Earth Explorers (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_-HsOmSiSc &feature=PlayList &p=A86C2C24C4DF8BB7 &index=13)