Cryosat is now due for launch on 8 April 2010 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

The technical issue on the Dnepr rocket, that delayed the launch last February, has now been resolved.

The urgency to tackle the Earth's changing climate is a priority today and the European Space Agency with its Earth Observation satellites is leading this effort, providing scientists with many of the key variables, stemming from natural causes and induced by man, which are today affecting our environment.

With the launch of CryoSat-2, ESA's so-called Ice Mission, data of an unprecedented precision are now going to be available on the rates at polar ice on land and at sea is melting.

This A & B-Roll presents the missions key aspects in the context of climate change. It includes interviews with ESAs CryoSat-2 Project manager Richard Francis, lead scientist Duncan Wingham from University College London, Malcolm Davidson ground campaign manager ESA, and Volker Liebig, ESA Director of Earth Observation.