Article Posted on : - Sep 06, 2009

CryoSat-2 will acquire accurate measurements of the thickness of floating sea-ice. Image credit: ESA

MUNICH (BNS): The European Space Agency will unveil its CryoSat-2 satellite at a media gathering at Ottobrunn near here on September 14.

Project managers from ESA and industry as well as scientists and other experts will give presentations on the spacecraft and its scientific objectives. The satellite will then be transported to the Baikanour space station in Kazakhstan for its scheduled launch in December this year, the ESA said.

The CryoSat satellite has been designed to provide new measurements of the extent and thickness of the Earth’s polar ice sheets. This will provide information on ice volume, thereby helping scientists understand the effects of climate change on the global ice cover.

The ESA had launched its first CryoSat satellite in 2005 which, however, resulted in a failure with the satellite crashing down near the North Pole shortly after lift-off.

Following the successful launch of ESA’s gravity mission GOCE in March this year and the upcoming launch of its water mission SMOS in November, the CryoSat mission will finally lift off the ground, becoming ESA’s third Earth Explorer in orbit.

Scheduled for launch this December aboard a Dnepr launcher from Baikonur, CryoSat is expected to significantly contribute in global ice mass researches. The mission will focus on how the polar regions are influenced by climate change and also the interaction between sea ice and the oceans. It may also trigger a number of practical applications, such as improved understanding of ocean circulation and greater insights into current and future changes in sea level.