The NASA mission provided data on cloud profiles and physical
properties to enhance weather prediction models
BROOMFIELD, Colo., April 23,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The BAE Systems-built CloudSat
satellite has officially ended operations after more than 17 years
on orbit. CloudSat launched in April
2006 as part of a NASA-led mission to develop global cloud
profiles to better understand how water and ice content determine
cloud properties, the processes behind precipitation, and how
clouds impact the climate. It has since served as a valuable tool
for the scientific community to validate and advance weather
forecast modeling and predictive capabilities, and it has helped
inform hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific papers.
"The deorbiting of CloudSat brings an end
to a long and valuable mission that helped the scientific
community"
BAE Systems designed and built the spacecraft bus for the
mission. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory developed the Cloud
Profiling Radar that served as CloudSat's sole instrument. The
satellite launched jointly and flew in formation with the
Cloud-Aerosol LIDAR (light detection and ranging) and Infrared
Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite, which
utilizes BAE Systems-built LIDAR and wide-field camera instruments
to further study climate impacts of clouds and aerosols in the
atmosphere. The CALIPSO mission formally ended on August 1, 2023.
CloudSat was originally planned for a 22-month mission lifetime,
but it was able to continue providing measurements for nearly 18
years in large part due to operational support efforts from the BAE
Systems team, which modified spacecraft operations to deal with
battery and reaction wheel failures that occurred over the
years.
"The deorbiting of CloudSat brings an end to a long and valuable
mission that helped the scientific community develop a more robust
understanding of clouds and how they interact with the rest of our
environment," said Don Speranzini,
vice president and general manager of Ground Systems and Services
for BAE Systems Space & Mission Systems. "The fact that the
satellite was able to provide meaningful data so long after its
original design life is a testament to both our team's
craftsmanship and operational innovations that kept the mission
running as long as possible."
CloudSat officially ended scientific operations in December 2023. In the months following, the
satellite went through the passivation process — depleting its
remaining energy and adjusting its solar arrays so it can no longer
be activated — and was progressively lowered to disposal orbit
where it will eventually burn up safely in the Earth's
atmosphere.
For more information, please contact:
Sawyer D'Argonne, BAE Systems
Mobile: 303-250-6031
sawyer.dargonne@ballaerospace.com
www.baesystems.com/US
@BAESystemsInc
Notes to editors
Space & Mission Systems is
formerly Ball Aerospace, which was acquired by BAE Systems, Inc. on
February 16, 2024.
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SOURCE BAE Systems, Inc.