ESA - ESA Spacecraft Operations - CryoSat-2 operations

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CryoSat-2 operations

The mission

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The CryoSat mission will provide data to determine the precise rate of change in the thickness of the polar ice sheets and floating sea ice. It is capable of detecting changes as little as 1 cm per year. The information from the CryoSat will lead to a better understanding of how the volume of ice on Earth is changing and, in turn, a better appreciation of how ice and climate are linked.

Credits: ESA – P. Carril

The Flight Control Team

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Nic Mardle is Spacecraft Operations Manager (SOM) for Cryosat-2, due for launch in 2009. She also served as SOM for the original Cryosat, launch due to booster failure in 2005.

Credits: ESA-J.Mai/www.juergenmai.com

Mission operations overview

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Europe's first mission dedicated to studying the Earth’s ice was launched today from Kazakhstan. From its polar orbit, CryoSat-2 will send back data leading to new insights into how ice is responding to climate change and the role it plays in our ‘Earth system’.

The CryoSat-2 satellite was launched at 15:57 CEST (13:57 UTC) on a Dnepr rocket provided by the International Space Company Kosmotras from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The signal confirming that it had separated from the launcher came 17 minutes later from the Malindi ground station in Kenya.

Credits: ESA

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CryoSat's radar altimeter is able to measure the freeboard of sea ice, which is the height of ice protruding above the water. From the freeboard, the ice thickness can be derived.

Credits: ESA/AOES Medialab

The ground station
Kiruna

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The Kiruna S- and X-band station supports Envisat and ERS-2, and is scheduled to support CryoSat-2 in 2009. For ESTRACK, Kiruna hosts one 15m and one 13m antenna. Both operate in S-band for uplink and downlink and X-band for downlink. The station is located at Salmijärvi, 38 km east of Kiruna, in northern Sweden. The station is equipped for tracking, telemetry and command operations as well as for reception, recording, processing and dissemination of data from the sensor instruments onboard ERS-2 and Envisat.

The station is connected to the ESTRACK Control Centre (ECC) at ESOC via dedicated voice and data circuits. The station is remotely monitored and controlled from the ECC under nominal operating conditions. A mini control centre is located at the station to provide backup.

Credits: ESA-S.Corvaja

Ground segment & mission control system

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This mission uses SCOS-2000, the European standard mission control system developed at ESOC.

Credits: ESA

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Mission Ground Segment (PDF - Payload Data Facility, FOP - Flight Operation Segment)

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CryoSat’s primary payload is the Synthetic Aperture Interferometric Radar Altimeter (SIRAL), designed to meet the scientific community’s measurement requirements for ice-sheet elevation and sea-ice freeboard. The radar altimeter exploits sophisticated radar techniques for improved resolution and observing potential.

The altimeter makes a measurement of the distance between the satellite and the surface. However, this measurement cannot be converted into the more useful measure of the height of the surface until the satellite’s position is accurately known. The satellite therefore carries three startrackers for measuring the exact direction to the point on the surface where the measurement is made, so that it can be precisely located. In addition, a radio receiver called Doppler Orbit and Radio Positioning Integration by Satellite (DORIS) and a small laser retroreflector ensure that the satellite’s position is accurately tracked.

Credits: ESA/AOES Medialab

More information

CryoSat CryoSat brochure (PDF) Images, animations

Ground stations

Kiruna station

Launch vehicle

Dnepr User's Guide Related video

Kosmotras