39086 - SARAL

SARAL or Satellite with ARgos and ALtiKa is a cooperative altimetry technology mission of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and CNES (Space Agency of France). The ISRO built satellite with payloads modules (AltiKa altimeter, DORIS, Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) and ARGOS-3 (Advanced Research and Global Observation Satellite) data collection system provided CNES will be launched by Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket into the Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO). ISRO will be responsible for the platform, launch, and operations of the spacecraft.

The SARAL mission is complementary to the Jason-2 mission of NASA/NOAA and CNES/EUMETSAT. It will fill the gap between Envisat and the Sentinel 3 mission of the European GMES program. The combination of two altimetry missions in orbit has a considerable impact on the reconstruction of sea surface height (SSH), reducing the mean mapping error by a factor of 4.

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 2013-02-25
Launch Vehicle: PSLV-CA
Launch Site: Sriharikota, India