November 2, 2009
November 2nd
2009 - The
SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission) satellite was launched this
morning by a Rockot launcher from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. The satellite is a
Franco-Spanish project, which involves the Centre of National Space Studies, CNES in France,
the Centre for the Technological and Industrial Development, CDTI in Spain
and the European Space Agency, ESA,
as part of its “Living Planet” Earth observation programme. Its mission is to
measure the soil moisture and the ocean salinity on a global scale using its
radiometric instrument MIRAS (Microwave
Imaging Radiometer with Aperture Synthesis), built by Astrium in Spain. Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor for this
programme.