Mission type | Remote sensing |
---|---|
Operator | Canadian Space Agency (CSA) |
COSPAR ID | 2003-036A |
SATCAT no. | 27858 |
Website | www |
Mission duration | Planned: 2 years (minimum)[1] Elapsed: 21 years, 3 months, 4 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Manufacturer | Bristol Aerospace[1] |
Launch mass | 260 kg (570 lb)[1] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 13 August 2003, 02:09:33[2] | UTC
Rocket | Pegasus-XL F35 |
Launch site | Vandenberg Runway 12/30 |
Contractor | Orbital |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Low Earth |
Perigee altitude | 642 km (399 mi)[1] |
Apogee altitude | 654 km (406 mi)[1] |
Inclination | 73.9 degrees[1] |
Period | 97.7 minutes[3] |
Epoch | 12 August 2003, 22:10:00 UTC[3] |
SCISAT-1 is a Canadian satellite designed to make observations of the Earth's atmosphere. Its main instruments are an optical Fourier transform infrared spectrometer, the ACE-FTS Instrument, and an ultraviolet spectrophotometer, MAESTRO. These devices record spectra of the Sun, as sunlight passes through the Earth's atmosphere, making analyses of the chemical elements of the atmosphere possible.