ESA - GOCE - GOCE’s ‘heart’ starts beating

GOCE at a glance

The first of a series Looking into the forces that shape our planet A technological achievement An intimate portrait of Earth Facts and figures

About the spacecraft

Satellite Payload

About the launch

Launch overview Launcher After launch GOCE data

Meet the team

Danilo Muzi, Project Manager Rune Floberghagen, Mission Manager Reiner Rummel, Chairman Mission Advisory Group Mark Drinkwater, Mission Scientist Roger Haagmans, Mission Scientist Andrea Allasio, Thales Alenia Space Project Manager Michael Fehringer, System Manager Paolo Laberinti, Head of Verification and Testing Miguel Aguirre, Technical Officer for Definition Phase Daniel Lamarre, Gradiometer Engineer Juan Piñeiro, Spacecraft Operations Manager Stefano Capitanio, Launch Campaign Manager Pascal Gilles, Head of Earth Explorer Payload Data Ground Segment

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GOCE’s ‘heart’ starts beating

8 April 2009

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Forming the heart of GOCE (Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer), the gravity gradiometer consists of three pairs of identical ultra-sensitive accelerometers, mounted on three mutually orthogonal 'arms'. One of the arms is aligned with the satellite’s trajectory, one pointing towards the centre of the Earth, and the third is perpendicular to the other two. This allows the simultaneous measurement of six independent but complementary components of the gravity field.

Credits: ESA - AOES Medialab

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GOCE will provide the dataset required to accurately determine global and regional models of Earth's gravity field and geoid. It will advance research in ocean circulation, physics of Earth's interior, geodesy and surveying, and sea-level change.

Credits: ESA - AOES Medialab

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The animation is based on available gravity measurements and shows the information GOCE will be providing us with. Simplified, it shows how the geoid represents deviations from the Earth's elipsoid. Although it has 'highs'and 'lows'- it is a surface of equal gravitational potential. Therefore, if an object were placed on the surface it would not move.

Credits: DLR

GOCE launch