A Falcon 9 successfully launched an Earth science mission for Europe and Japan.
EarthCARE is an 800-million-euro ($870 million) ESA-led mission to study atmospheric clouds and aerosols. The spacecraft carries four instruments, including a cloud profiling radar provided by the Japanese space agency JAXA at 8.3 billion yen ($53 million). JAXA dubbed the spacecraft Hakuryu or “White Dragon” because of the spacecraft’s appearance.
The 2,200-kilogram spacecraft, flying in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 393 kilometres, will collect data on clouds and aerosols in the atmosphere, along with imagery and measurements of reflected sunlight and radiated heat. That information will be used for atmospheric science, including climate and weather models.
“EarthCARE is there to study the effect of clouds and aerosols on the thermal balance of the Earth,” said Dirk Bernaerts, ESA’s EarthCARE project manager as reported by Spacenews. “It’s vital to observe them all together at the same location at the same time. That is what is unique about this spacecraft.”
