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\t\t\t\t\t\t05\/06\/2024<\/span> ESA\u2019s EarthCARE mission has completed its important \u2018Launch and Early Orbit Phase\u2019 and is ready to begin the commissioning of its four scientific instruments. The data they gather will improve our understanding of the role that clouds and aerosols play in Earth\u2019s radiation balance and benefit both climate modelling and weather forecasting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n EarthCARE launched at 00:20 CEST on 29 May on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA. A launch is always spectacular \u2013 decades of hard work have led to this pivotal moment \u2013 but it doesn\u2019t last long. Just 10 minutes after launch, EarthCARE separated from the rocket and was, for the first time, alone in orbit.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n EarthCARE then began switching on key systems and deploying its long, trailing solar array \u2013 or, at least, that\u2019s what the Flight Control Team at ESA\u2019s ESOC mission control centre in Germany hoped. This sequence of activities was carried out automatically and mission control had to wait for the first signals from the satellite to confirm that everything had gone as planned.<\/p>\n Approximately 52 minutes after launch, as EarthCARE passed over Hartebeesthoek satellite station in South Africa, they received this all-important \u2018acquisition of signal\u2019 from the new mission. The ESA team could now lock on to the spacecraft and begin receiving telemetry data containing information on its status following the mechanical stress of launch.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n We hear you, #EarthCARE<\/a>!<\/p>\n Hartebeesthoek station in South Africa has received the satellite\u2019s first signals from space. Telemetry is arriving clearly at ESA mission control in Germany. pic.twitter.com\/Zmb58CmG9p<\/a><\/p>\n
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