The European Envisat satellite

Launched from Kourou in French Guiana on the night of 28 February 2002, Envisat is the largest Earth Observation spacecraft ever built.

Can you imagine ? It weighs 8.5 tonnes and is 10 m long, about the size of a double decker bus !

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Envisat
Artist's impression of Envisat. Source: ESA.

ESA satellite Envisat flies in a sun-synchronous polar orbit of about 800-km altitude. The repeat cycle of the reference orbit is 35 days, and for most sensors, being wide swath, it provides a complete coverage of the globe within one to three days.

Where is Envisat now ?

Envisat carries 10 sophisticated instruments to provide continuous observation and monitoring of the Earth's land, atmosphere, oceans and ice caps.

Envisat More about ASAR More about MERIS More about AATSR More about RA-2 More about MWR More about GOMOS More about MIPAS More about SCIAMACHY More about DORIS More about LRR
Envisat's instruments. Click on the instruments to get a detailled description. Source: Aviso.