GOES-17 image of Earth’s Western Hemisphere acquired on May 20, 2018, using the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). Image courtesy of NOAA/NASA.
This week, we are catching up with the latest Earth Observation (EO) satellite launches from NASA and China and looking forward to the planned NOAA EO launch next week.
NASA Launches
A pair of NASA CubeSats forming the PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission was put into orbit in a pair of launches by Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from its facilities in New Zealand.
The first CubeSat was launched on 25th May on a mission called ‘Ready, Aim, PREFIRE’, while its companion was launched on 5th June on a mission called ‘PREFIRE and Ice’. Both satellites were launched into 525 kilometre near-polar sun-synchronous orbits, although they are on slightly different orbits, and they are expected to cross paths every few hours near the poles.
The mission is expected to last around ten months and will collect data about Arctic and Antarctica surfaces and clouds to determine how much heat they radiate into space, how this influences the global climate and the impact on climate change. Both CubeSats carry a Thermal Infra-red Spectrometer (TIRS) that will measure variability in spectral fluxes on hourly to seasonal timescales, and it has a spatial resolution of 11.7 kilometres with a swath width of 100 kilometres. The gathered data will be integrated with models to improve understanding of the role of far infrared radiation in polar regions and, in turn, improve the accuracy of climate change and ice-loss models used to predict ice, sea level, and weather changes.
China Satellite Launches
On the 6th June, China successfully launched three satellites on the commercial launch vehicle Gushenxing-1 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. Three satellites were:
- TEE-01B
- Naxing-3A & -3B
All three are reported as being EO-focused, although details on the instruments and missions are unavailable.
Imminent NOAA Satellite Launch
The latest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite, known currently as Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-U, is scheduled for launch next Tuesday 25th June. GOES-U will the fourth and final of the R series satellites and is due to be launched by SpaceX via the Falcon 9 rocket.
The GOES constellations provide advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements, real-time mapping of lightning activity, and monitoring of space weather. As its name suggests, it is a geostationary satellite that is expected to be at an altitude of just under 36,000 kilometres. GOES-U will be renamed GOES-19 once it reaches its geostationary orbit, and once it goes into operation, it will replace GOES-16 and will focus on the region from the west coast to Africa to New Zealand.
There are several instruments on GOES-U including:
- Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) – a multispectral imager with 16 spectral bands in the visible, near infra-red, short wave infrared, medium wave infrared & thermal infrared wavelengths.
- Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) – a camera to count lightning flashes and measure their intensity. It’s the first operational lightning mapper flown in a geostationary orbit.
- Solar Ultraviolet Imager (SUVI) and Extreme Ultraviolet and X-ray Irradiance Sensors (EXIS) – provide imaging of the sun and detection of solar flares
- Compact Coronagraph-1 (CCOR-1) – images the solar corona to detect and characterize coronal mass ejections
- Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS) – monitors particles and the magnetic field variations associated with space weather.
Summary
New satellites and technologies are consistently being developed, enhanced, and launched into space, making EO one of the most exciting and fast-moving fields.
