The CryoSat environmental and climate monitoring satellite is one of the Earth Explorer Opportunity Missions of the European Space Agency’s Living Planet programme, created in 1998. This science-driven programme aims to provide critical data to address pressing environmental questions. It involves Core Missions, comprising relatively complex and innovative Earth observation satellites, and Opportunity Missions, using more mature technology, thus allowing speedier implementation.
A radar altimetry mission dedicated to the observation of the polar regions, CryoSat will study possible climate variations and trends by measuring changes in the thickness of ice sheets and polar ocean sea-ice cover (which play a significant role in the global climate) for at least three years with unprecedented accuracy, providing researchers with previously unavailable data from these uninhabited regions.
After a launcher malfunction unfortunately resulted in the total loss of the initial CryoSat satellite in the autumn of 2005, ESA decided to rebuild the satellite. Cryosat-2 is expected to be launched in 2009.
As for the original CryoSat satellite, Astrium is prime contractor to ESA for CryoSat-2, responsible for the satellite platform and integration of all instruments.
