GOCE science satellite completes miion - Built by ales Alenia Space and launched in 009

GOCE science satellite completes mission - Built by Thales Alenia Space and launched in 2009

GOCE science satellite completes mission - Built by Thales Alenia Space and launched in 2009

Tue, 22/10/2013

Cannes, October 22nd, 2013 - After more than four and a half years in orbit, GOCE (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer), the most sophisticated satellite ever to investigate the Earth's gravitational field and map the basic shape of our planet, is coming to the end of its mission. Developed and built by Thales Alenia Space for the European Space Agency (ESA), in the next few days the GOCE satellite will self-destruct during atmospheric reentry from its final operational orbit at an altitude of 229 kilometers. The satellite had an extended lifetime of 35 months.

Launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia on March 17, 2009, GOCE provided the first high-resolution map of the Earth's gravitational field, with unprecedented resolution. This map has already been extensively used in oceanographic, geophysical, geodetic, glaciology and climatology applications.

ESA chose Thales Alenia Space as prime contractor for the GOCE satellite, with responsibility for development, integration and testing. In addition, the companys plant in Cannes developed the sophisticated Electrostatic Gravity Gradiometer, the satellites main payload, used to measure the terrestrial gravitational field. Thales Alenia Spaces plant in Milan, Italy produced the sophisticated GPS receiver that enabled determining the satellites orbit to within a centimeter, thus ensuring high-precision measurements of the gravitational field.

Other contributions from Thales Alenia Space included the drag free and attitude-control system to compensate for the residual atmosphere still present at the orbital altitude, the end-to-end simulator, capable of generating equivalent mission data and estimating the end-to-end in-orbit performance, and the onboard computer - all supplied by the companys facility in Turin, Italy.

Thales Alenia Space also coordinated work by European partners, including Astrium, which built the satellite platform, and French aerospace research center ONERA, which developed the high-precision accelerometers for the gradiometer.

GOCE once again demonstrates Thales Alenia Spaces outstanding expertise, in particular the companys proven ability to meet the complex challenges of todays most advanced scientific missions.

About Thales Alenia Space

The European leader in satellite systems and a major player in orbital infrastructures, Thales Alenia Space is a joint venture between Thales (67%) and Finmeccanica (33%). Thales Alenia Space and Telespazio embody the two groups' Space Alliance . Thales Alenia Space sets the global standard in solutions for space telecommunications, radar and optical Earth observation, defense and security, navigation and science. With consolidated revenues of 2.1 billion euros in 2012, Thales Alenia Space has 7,500 employees in France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium and United States

Thales Alenia Space press contacts

Sandrine Bielecki - Tel: 33 (0)4 92 92 70 94

sandrine.bielecki@thalesaleniaspace.com

Tarik Lahlou - Tel: 33 (0)4 92 92 68 45

tarik.lahlou@thalesaleniaspace.com

Tiziana Ebano - Tel: 39 06 41 51 25 74

tiziana.ebano@thalesaleniaspace.com

LINK:	https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/space/press-release/goce-scie...
	See more stories from thales

Most recent headlines