Airbus Ships Satellites to Florida, California
Airbus Ships Satellites to Florida, California
Launches Planned for Late March, May
Two satellites built by Airbus have been shipped to the United States for launch from Vandenberg AFB in California and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
"As the world’s climate continues to change at a faster and faster rate, scientists need ever more sophisticated space assets to enable better analysis."
Marc Steckling, Airbus
The Airbus-built EUTELSAT 36D geostationary telecommunications satellite has been shipped from Toulouse, France to Sanford, FL, on board an Airbus BelugaST (A300-600ST). Its next stop is the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida, where it will be launched into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 later this month.
EUTELSAT 36D is based on the latest generation Eurostar Neo geostationary telecommunications satellite and will provide TV broadcasting (DTH) and government services over Africa, Europe and eastern countries and has a planned lifetime of more than 15 years.
“EUTELSAT 36D is the latest milestone of our longstanding partnership with Eutelsat stretching back more than 30 years," said Philippe Pham, Head of Telecommunications & Navigation Systems at Airbus. "It is the 22nd geo satellite we have built for them and will provide extended capacity over Africa and Eurasia.”
At nearly the same time, the Airbus-built EarthCARE (Earth Clouds, Aerosols and Radiation Explorer) spacecraft left Munich, Germany, transported aboard an aircraft to its launch site in Vandenberg, CA. EarthCARE is planned to be launched in May on a Falcon 9 rocket.
EarthCARE is the most complex Earth Explorer mission in the European Space Agency’s (ESA) FutureEO program. This new satellite mission will quantify and reduce the uncertainty about the role that clouds and aerosols (tiny atmospheric particles) play in heating and cooling Earth’s atmosphere, contributing to our better understanding of climate change. The spacecraft was developed, built and tested with the involvement of experts from 15 European countries as well as Japan and Canada.
"As the world’s climate continues to change at a faster and faster rate, scientists need ever more sophisticated space assets to enable better analysis," said Marc Steckling, Head of Earth Observation, Science and Exploration at Airbus. "EarthCARE will help fill in the gaps by providing unprecedented measurements so that meteorologists and climatologists can better understand how energy is transmitted within the atmosphere.”
A joint undertaking between ESA and the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA), EarthCARE will examine the role clouds and aerosols play in reflecting solar radiation back into space and also in trapping infrared radiation emitted from the Earth’s surface.