Envisat

Envisat ("Environmental Satellite") is a large <a href="/facts/Earth_observation_satellite/WK2zGRSV">Earth-observing satellite</a> which has been inactive since 2012. It is still in orbit and considered space debris. Operated by the <a href="/facts/European_Space_Agency/L8YRNV0C">European Space Agency</a> (ESA), it was the world's largest civilian Earth observation satellite.
It was launched on 1 March 2002 aboard an <a href="/facts/Ariane_5/H78wlLG4">Ariane 5</a> from the <a href="/facts/Guyana_Space_Centre/hp6TSJ6W">Guyana Space Centre</a> in <a href="/facts/Kourou/wvDVpjpJ">Kourou</a>, <a href="/facts/French_Guiana/aFSETEKm">French Guiana</a>, into a <a href="/facts/Sun_synchronous/3HonupUd">Sun synchronous</a> <a href="/facts/Polar_orbit/JLUlIPlq">polar orbit</a> at an altitude of 790 ± 10 km. It <a href="/facts/Orbit/nD2TPySG">orbits</a> the <a href="/facts/Earth/HLLmDfj0">Earth</a> in about 101 minutes, with a repeat cycle of 35 days. After losing contact with the satellite on 8 April 2012, ESA formally announced the end of Envisat's mission on 9 May 2012.
Envisat cost 2.3 billion Euro (including 300 million Euro for 5 years of operations) to develop and launch. The mission has been replaced by the <a href="/facts/Sentinel_(satellite)/p83ntLvz">Sentinel</a> series of satellites. The first of these, <a href="/facts/Sentinel_1/psCdz3rd">Sentinel 1</a>, has taken over the radar duties of Envisat since its launch in 2014.

Envisat open-in-new

Envisat