Today (May 28) a new mission to observe Earth went into space.
Today at 6:20 p.m. EDT (2220 GMT or 3:20 p.m. California time), SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket lifted off carrying the Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer satellite, or EarthCARE for short, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. .
It was the second launch of the day for SpaceX, which also sent a group of its Starlink Internet satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida this morning.
The first stage of the Falcon 9 booster flying on that mission has now reached space seven times, according to SpaceX’s mission statement. His 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.
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 cooperative mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The mission will “examine the role that clouds and aerosols play in reflecting solar radiation back into space, as well as intercepting infrared radiation emitted from the Earth’s surface,” according to ESA.
Learning about the balance of solar radiation on our planet “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 similar to that of the ISS (250 miles or 400 kilometers), but in a different plane: Instead of the equatorially focused ISS, EarthCARE will fly in a sun-synchronous polar orbit that crosses the equator in the local early afternoon when sunlight is strongest in the area.
The mission will look down at cloud particles and aerosol molecules, or suspended particles in the atmosphere, to see how they interact with precipitation and how quickly they fall on our planet. EarthCARE will also “record the distribution of water droplets and ice crystals and how they are transported in clouds.”
“These crucial data will improve the accuracy of both cloud development models and their behavior, composition and interactions with aerosols, as well as improve future climate models and support numerical weather prediction,” ESA officials added.
The satellite carries four science instruments: an atmospheric lidar (pulsed laser) to examine cloud tops and cloud and aerosol profiles; cloud profiling radar to learn about cloud movement, dynamics and structure; a broadband radiometer for investigating solar radiation and infrared radiation; and a multispectral imager.
EarthCARE is expected to undergo a six-month commissioning period after launch, and its primary mission is expected to 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 severed most space partnerships with the nation.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 6:35 p.m. EDT on May 28 with reports of a successful launch, rocket landing and satellite deployment.