Geosat

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Other Designations: Geodetic Satellite. Class: Earth. Type: Radarsat. Destination: Medium Earth Orbit. Nation: USA. Agency: US Navy. Manufacturer: APL.

Geosat was a US Navy satellite designed to measure sea surface heights to within 5 cm. After a one-and-a-half year long classified mission for the Navy, Geosat's scientific Exact Repeat Mission (ERM) began on November 8, 1986. When the ERM ended in January 1990 (due to failures of both on-board tape recorders), more than three years of precise altimeter data were available to the scientific community. Spacecraft: Gravity gradient stabilized. Two tape recorders. Payload: Radar altimeter to measure sea surface height.

Design Life: 3 years. Typical orbit: 760 x 817 km, incl. = 108.05 deg, 17 day repeat. Mass: 635 kg (1,399 lb).

Geosat Chronology

1985 March 13 - Geosat - Launch Site: Vandenberg. Launch Complex: SLC3W. Launch Vehicle: Atlas. Mass: 635 kg (1,399 lb). Perigee: 775 km (481 mi). Apogee: 779 km (484 mi). Inclination: 108.10 deg. Period: 100.40 min.
Ocean sea height mapping. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C).

Bibliography:

McDowell, Jonathan, Jonathan's Space Home Page (launch records), Harvard University, 1997-present. Web Address when accessed: http://www.planet4589.org/jsr.html.
JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. Web Address when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html.
Lockheed Martin Coporation, Atlas Family Fact Sheets, September 1998.. Web Address when accessed: http://www.lmco.com/ILS/txtmain/ils_lsysinfo.htm.
McDowell, Jonathan, Launch Log, October 1998. Web Address when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~jcm/space/log/launch.html.

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