CYGNSS
| CYGNSS | |
|---|---|
| Type: | Weather satellites |
| Country: |
 United States
|
| Operator: | NASA |
| COSPAR-ID : | 2016-078A - 2016-078H |
| Mission dates | |
| Dimensions: | 29 kg each |
| Size: | each 51 × 59 × 22 cm |
| Begin: | December 15, 2016 at 13:37 UTC |
| Starting place: | Cape Canaveral |
| Launcher: | Pegasus XL |
| Status: | in orbit |
| Orbit data | |
| Rotation time : | 95.2 min |
| Track height: | 510 km |
| Orbit inclination : | 35.0 ° |
| Apogee height : | 545 km |
| Perigee height : | 522 km |
CYGNSS (Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System) is an array of eight weather satellites developed in a partnership between NASA , the University of Michigan and the Southwest Research Institute .
They were together on December 15, 2016 13:37 UTC with a Pegasus - launch vehicle brought from a carrier aircraft over the Atlantic into low-Earth orbit.
The three-axis stabilized satellites are equipped with a scatterometer called a Delay Doppler Mapping Instrument (DDMI) from Surrey Satellite Technology and are supposed to orbit the tropical zone of the earth and look for signs of cyclones . On average, every point between 35 ° north and south, where cyclones predominate, should be recorded every seven hours. The satellites measure the speed of the wind across the waves. This changes the reflection and scattering behavior of radio waves from the sea surface, whereby the GPS navigation satellites are used as the source for the radio signals . For this purpose, with a suitable constellation, the signal reflected from the sea surface is compared with the signal received directly from the GPS satellite, from which the wind strength can then be calculated. With three receivers (two for the sea surface and one for direct reception from the GPS satellites) the measuring instrument can carry out the signals from four different GPS satellites simultaneously and up to 32 measurements per second. The energy supply is provided by solar cells with a span of 1.63 m, which supply the satellites with the required 60 watts of power. Each satellite weighs 29 kilograms, with a total mass of 346 kilograms taken into orbit together with the launching device. The satellites were built on the basis of a microsatellite bus from the Southwest Research Institute and cost US $ 152 million. The planned service life is two years.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Orbit data as an example according to CYGFM01. N2YO, December 26, 2016, accessed December 26, 2016 .
- ↑ der-orion.com: Pegasus brings CYGNSS constellation into orbit , accessed on December 25, 2016
- ↑ a b ab Abenteuer-astronomie.de : CYGNSS: eight clever small satellites look into the heart of cyclones - adventure astronomy , accessed on December 25, 2016
- ↑ NASA: Press Kit cygnss
- ↑ Spaceflight 101 : CYGNSS | Spaceflight101 , accessed December 25, 2016
- ↑ eoportal.org: CYGNSS | Satellite Missions | Directory , accessed December 25, 2016