LEO

LOW EARTH ORBIT

 LEO
•Low Earth Orbit satellites
have a very small coverage
• Altitude above Earth's surface-2,000
kilometers (1,200 mi)
• Orbital period between about 84 and 127
minutes
• Since LEOs are closer to the Earth, they
cover less territory because of the limited
field of view from the antennas onboard
each spacecraft.
CLOUDSAT
 CLOUDSAT

• CloudSatis a satellite mission designed to

measure the vertical structure of clouds from
space.
• CloudSat is one of a constellation of
satellites known as the A-TRAIN.
 SPECIFICATIONS

Mission type Atmospheric research

Operator NASA

Mission duration Planned: 22 months

Elapsed: 11 years, 7 months, 5 days
 Spacecraft properties
Bus BCP-2000
Manufacturer Ball Aerospace
Launch mass 700 kg (1,543 lb)
2.54 × 2.03 × 2.29 m
Dimensions (8.3 × 6.7 × 7.5 ft)
(H × L × W)

Start of mission
Launch date April 28, 2006, 10:02:16 UTC
Rocket Delta II 7420-10C
Launch site Vandenberg SLC-2W
 Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime LEO
Semi-major axis 7,080.59 km (4,399.67 mi)
Eccentricity 0.0000824
Perigee 709 km (441 mi)
Apogee 710 km (440 mi)
Inclination 98.23 degrees
Period 98.83 minutes
Argument of perigee 91.62 degrees
Mean Anomaly 14.57 degrees
Mean Motion 14.57
Epoch 25 January 2015, 03:10:38 UTC
 MAIN INSTRUMENT OF CLOUDSAT

• Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) is a 94-GHz nadir-looking radar which

measures the power backscattered by clouds as a function of
distance from the radar.
CloudSat Data