ESA Ice Satellite Likely To Launch In February - Will Replace Bird That Crashed In 2005

[hatrack]

The European space agency's mission to assess the state of the world's ice cover is likely to launch in February. The Cryosat spacecraft will go into orbit on a Dnepr rocket from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the agency has announced.

The satellite is a rebuild of the mission that was destroyed in 2005 when its launcher failed just minutes into its flight.

Cryosat-2's radar instrument will make detailed maps of the ice that covers both sea and land at the poles. Data from other satellites, such as the US Icesat and the European ERS/Envisat missions, has already indicated that some of this cover is diminishing at a rapid rate in response to climate change, with the biggest melting occurring in the Arctic.

Cryosat will add significantly to the information scientists already possess, making observations that are beyond the current generation of spacecraft.

EDIT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8255605.stm