BAE Systems-built CloudSat satellite completes nearly two decades-long mission
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.
- 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.
- BAE Systems designed and built the spacecraft bus for the mission.
- 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.