Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsa23c..05e&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SA23C-05
Physics
[0358] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Thermosphere: Energy Deposition, [2494] Ionosphere / Instruments And Techniques, [7900] Space Weather
Scientific paper
Geostationary orbits are ideal for many science investigations of the Earth system on global scales. These orbits allow continuous observations of the same geographic region, enabling spatial and temporal changes to be distinguished and eliminating the ambiguity inherent to observations from low Earth orbit (LEO). Just as observations from geostationary orbit have revolutionized our understanding of changes in the troposphere, they will dramatically improve our understanding of the space environment at higher altitudes. However, geostationary orbits are infrequently used for science missions because of high costs. Geostationary satellites are large, typically weighing tons. Consequently, devoting an entire satellite to a science mission requires a large financial commitment, both for the spacecraft itself and for sufficient science instrumentation to justify a dedicated spacecraft. Furthermore, the small number of geostationary satellites produced for scientific missions increases the costs of each satellite. For these reasons, it is attractive to consider flying scientific instruments on satellites operated by commercial companies, some of whom have fleets of ~40 satellites. However, scientists' lack of understanding of the capabilities of commercial spacecraft as well as commercial companies' concerns about risks to their primary mission have impeded the cooperation necessary for the shared use of a spacecraft. Working with a commercial partner, the GOLD mission has successfully overcome these issues. Our experience indicates that there are numerous benefits to flying on commercial communications satellites (e.g., it is possible to downlink large amounts of data) and the costs are low if the experimental requirements adequately match the capabilities and available resources of the host spacecraft. Consequently, affordable access to geostationary orbit aboard a communications satellite now appears possible for science payloads.
Deaver T.
Eastes Richard
Krywonos Andrey
Lankton Mark R.
McClintock William E.
No associations
LandOfFree
Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) Mission: Science from Geostationary Orbit on-board a Commercial Communications Satellite does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) Mission: Science from Geostationary Orbit on-board a Commercial Communications Satellite, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) Mission: Science from Geostationary Orbit on-board a Commercial Communications Satellite will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-874053