This page no longer updated from 31 October 2001. Latest version can be found at www.astronautix.com
Other Designations: Geodetic Satellite. Class: Earth. Type: Radarsat. Nation: United States. Agency: US Navy. Manufacturer: JHU/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 stabilised. Two tape recorders. Payload: Radar altimeter to measure sea surface height.
SpecificationDesign Life: 3 years. Total Mass: 635 kg.
Geosat Chronology
13 March 1985
Geosat Launch Site: Vandenberg . Launch Vehicle: Atlas E. Mass: 635 kg. Perigee: 775 km. Apogee: 779 km. Inclination: 108.1 deg. Ocean sea height mapping. Spacecraft engaged in practical applications and uses of space technology such as weather or communication (US Cat C).
Bibliography:- 2 - McDowell, Jonathan, The United Nations Registry of Space Objects, Harvard University, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/QEDT/jcm/space/un/un.html
- 6 - JPL Mission and Spacecraft Library, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 1997. HTML when accessed: http://msl.jpl.nasa.gov/home.html
- 279 - McDowell, Jonathan, Launch Log, October 1998. HTML when accessed: http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~jcm/space/log/launch.html
Back to Index
Last update 12 March 2001.
Contact Mark Wade with any corrections or comments.
Conditions for use of drawings, pictures, or other materials from this site..
© Mark Wade, 2001 .