26620 - SAC C

SAC-C is an International (Argentina plus USA, France, Italy, Denmark, and Brazil) satellite that was launched by a Delta 2 rocket at 13:24 UT on 2000 Nov 21 from Vandenberg AFB. Initial orbital parameters were period 98.7 min, apogee 701 km, perigee 682 km, and inclination 98.2 deg.

Its mission was to remotely sense vegetation, wetlands, and ecosystem in four wavelength bands covering 0.4-1.75 microns, with a spatial resolution of 1 km. The orbital planes of SAC-C, EO 1, LANDSAT 7 (1999-020A), and TERRA (1999-068A) are closely coplanar, with a given site being successively visited by each spacecraft within an hour of each other.

Also onboard is the GOLPE (GPS OccuLtation and Passive reflection Experiment) with a GPS receiver receiving signals from the GPS fleet (a) directly, (b) after reflection from Earth's surface, and (c) after the signals traversed the dense atmosphere and ionosphere tangentially. These tangentially penetrating signals carry phase-change information which may be utilized in deriving the atmospheric density/temperature structures and the ionospheric electron density profiles. It carries a helium magnetometer also.

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 2000-11-21
Launch Vehicle: Delta II
Launch Site: Vandenberg AFB, United States
Mass: 475.0 kg