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September launch for ESA's water mission

27 April 2009

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With the launch date of 9 September 2009 confirmed by Eurockot Launch Services, the SMOS satellite has come out of storage at Thales Alenia Space's facilities in Cannes, France. The SMOS team are now beginning to make preparations for the Flight Acceptance Review on 25 May, which should give the all-important 'green light' to ship to the launch site in Russia.

Credits: ESA

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The SMOS satellite in the cleanroom at Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, France on 24 April 2009. The satellite, which has just come out of storage, will soon be prepared for shipment to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. The three antenna arms, which form the measuring instrument are currently folded up but once launched they unfold into a Y-shape. The instrument that carries 69 separate antenna-receivers which measure radiation emitted from Earth at L-band where the frequency is about 1.4 GHz/21 cm wavelength to derive information on soil moisture and ocean salinity.

Credits: ESA

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The SMOS Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS) consists of a central structure and three deployable arms that carry 69 antenna receivers. From an altitude of 758 km, the SMOS will view an area almost 3000 km in diameter. Due to the interferometry measurement principle and the Y-shaped antenna, the field of view is limited to a hexagon-like shape about 1000 km across. The orbit will result in global coverage every three days.

Credits: ESA – AOES Medialab

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ESA's SMOS Project Manager Achim Hahne (left) with team members Roger Jegou (middle) and Sten Ekholm (right) viewing the SMOS satellite at Thales Alenia Space in France.

Credits: ESA