TOPEX/Poseidon

Topex / Poseidon was jointly developed a research satellite to measure sea surface heights, the NASA (USA) and CNES (France).

He was started on August 10, 1992 by an Ariane 42P from Kourou. In January 2006 he was made after more than 13 years out of service, after the last gyroscope had failed. The plan was a mission life of 3 to 5 years.

Observation instruments

  • Satellite bus: Fairchild Multi- Mission Spacecraft with 3.4 kW
  • 1.2 m parabolic antenna for data transmission
  • C-band and Ku-band altimeter, precision better than 2.5 cm; Determination of the rate on Doppler effect better than 0.3 mm / s
  • GPS receiver for determining the position
  • Retro reflector for ground-based position determination

Mission tasks

  • Determination of sea surface heights with an accuracy of better than 5 cm
  • Observation of ocean currents
  • Observational data for the prediction of El Niño and La Niña
  • Common Earth observation tasks with the successor Jason -1 satellite, which was launched in 2001
International Designator Guiana Space Centre ELA-2 Orbital inclination Fairchild Aircraft
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