CryoSat 2 Launch Delayed
Friday 19 February 2010By EU Reporter Correspondents
The launch of the European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 satellite from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, scheduled for 25 February, has been delayed due to a concern related to the second stage steering engine of the Dnepr launcher.
According to the Ukrainian company Yuzhnoye, which developed and is responsible for the launch system, the fuel supply of the second stage engine has a very small margin for the flight profile, and measures to increase the margin will be implemented. Although the supply should be sufficient to get CryoSat into orbit, Yuzhnoye are not comfortable with the situation, and the launch of CryoSat has therefore been delayed to allow for additional tests needed on the launcher assembly.
Kosmotras, the launch provider, will inform ESA of a new launch date shortly.
CryoSat-2 will fly in a highly inclined polar orbit, reaching latitudes of 88° north and south, to maximise its coverage of the poles. From an altitude of just over 700 km, it will monitor changes in the thickness of sea ice and variations in the thickness of the ice sheets on land. This data is urgently needed by scientists, in order to understand exactly how the Earth’s ice cover is changing in response to climate change. For over 15 years, the ERS satellites and Envisat have been mapping the extent of ice cover, and there is an urgent need to determine exactly how the thickness of the ice is changing.