New Argos and Sarsat instruments in orbit
The latest 2nd-generation Argos and Sarsat instruments joined their predecessors. Launched on May 20 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, the NOAA-N satellite, renamed NOAA-18, reached its polar geosynchronous orbit at an altitude of 870 km. The power-generating solar arrays as well as the Argos 2 and Sarsat 2 antennas were deployed 1 hour 30 after lift-off.
CNES operations teams will switch on the instruments’ processing units, beginning with Sarsat 2 on May 23 in the evening. The in-orbit commissioning will be conducted through late June.
A world benchmark
A stork fitted with an Argos transmitter; credits CLS
Descending in direct line from Argos, the Sarsat programme got underway in 1982, in association with the Russian Cospas system.
Sea rescue; Credits French Navy
Since the launch of the 1st Cospas-Sarsat instruments, this unique distress call location system has saved over 18,500 lives.
Because Argos and Cospas-Sarsat share similar technical features, both systems’ instruments have been developed concurrently. However, their missions are quite different. dedicated to studying Earth’s environment and tracking wildlife, while Cospas-Sarsat is designed to locate distress calls from aircraft, ships and land mobiles, anywhere in the world.
A new generation in the making
The first Argos 3 and Sarsat 3 instruments will be launched in 2006 on the European METOP 2 satellite operated by Eumetsat.
The launch is now scheduled for 20 May.
