A new Earth observation mission arrived in space today (May 28).
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off with the Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer satellite, or EarthCARE for short, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California today at 6:20 p.m. EDT (2220 GMT or 3:20 p.m. California time).
It was the second launch of the day for SpaceX, which this morning also sent a group of its Starlink Internet satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The Falcon 9 first-stage booster flying this mission has so far reached space seven times, according to SpaceX’s mission statement. Previous missions included the launch of Crew-7 Crew Dragon astronauts to the International Space Station, the CRS-29 cargo flight to the ISS, and two Starlink missions.
The booster successfully landed back at Vandenberg today, about eight minutes after launch. About 2.5 minutes later, the Falcon 9 upper stage deployed EarthCARE into orbit as planned.
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EarthCARE is a collaborative mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The mission will “investigate the role that clouds and aerosols play in reflecting solar radiation back into space and also in capturing infrared radiation emitted from the Earth’s surface,” according to ESA.
Learning about our planet’s solar radiation balance “is crucial to solving climate-related problems and is something that can only be done from space,” ESA added.
The mission will operate in an orbit at a similar altitude to the ISS (250 miles or 400 kilometers), but on a different plane: instead of the more equatorial ISS, EarthCARE will fly in a sun-synchronous polar orbit that crosses the equator locally in the early afternoon, when is the strongest sunlight in the region.
The mission will observe cloud particles and aerosol molecules, or floating particles in the atmosphere, to see how they interact with precipitation and how fast they fall on our planet. EarthCARE will also “record the distribution of water droplets and ice crystals and how they are transported in clouds.”
“This essential data will improve the accuracy of both cloud development models and their behavior, composition and interaction with aerosols, as well as improve future climate models and support numerical weather prediction,” ESA officials added.
The satellite carries four scientific instruments: an atmospheric lidar (pulsed laser) for examining cloud tops and cloud and aerosol profiles; cloud profiling radar to learn about cloud movement, dynamics and structure; broadband radiometer for testing solar radiation and infrared radiation; and a multispectral recorder.
EarthCARE is expected to undergo a six-month commissioning period after launch, and its primary mission should last at least three years. It was previously expected to launch atop a Russian rocket, but mission officials switched to SpaceX following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which ended most space partnerships with the nation.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 6:35 PM EDT on May 28 with news of a successful launch, rocket landing and satellite deployment.