ESA-AchieveCOVER 8/1/05 1:58 PM Page 1 BR-250 BR-250 ESA ACHIEVEMENTS more than thirty years of pioneering space activity ESA-Achieve 8/1/05 1:56 PM Page 1 BR-250 June 2005 more than thirty years of pioneering space activity Andrew Wilson ESA-Achieve 8/1/05 1:56 PM Page 2 Foreword 4 Envisat 220 Introduction 8 MSG 230 Integral 236 Europa 46 Mars Express 244 ESRO-2 50 SMART-1 254 ESRO-1 52 Rosetta 260 HEOS 54 Sloshsat 272 TD-1 58 ESRO-4 60 Coming Launches Cos-B 62 CryoSat 274 Geos 66 Venus Express 278 OTS 70 Galileo 284 ISEE-2 74 Metop 292 Meteosat 76 ATV 298 IUE 82 GOCE 304 Ariane-1/2/3/4 86 Columbus 310 Marecs 94 SMOS 324 Sirio-2 98 Proba-2 330 Contents Exosat 100 Planck 332 ECS 104 Herschel 338 Spacelab 108 Vega 344 Giotto 114 ERA 348 Olympus 120 ADM-Aeolus 352 Hipparcos 124 LISA Pathfinder 356 FOC/HST 128 Swarm 358 Ulysses 134 JWST 362 BR-250 “ESA Achievements (3rd edition)” ERS 144 Gaia 366 Eureca 152 BepiColombo 372 ISBN 92-9092-493-4 ISSN 0250-1589 ISO 156 EarthCARE 378 Compiled/ Andrew Wilson, SOHO 160 LISA 380 written by: ESA Publications Division Ariane-5 168 Solar Orbiter 384 Published by: ESA Publications Division, Cluster 182 ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands Huygens 188 Chronologies 388 TeamSat 200 Acronyms & 398 Design by: Leigh Edwards & Abbreviations Andrew Wilson ARD 202 XMM-Newton 206 Index 400 Price: €30 Artemis 210 © European Space Agency 2005 Proba-1 216 2 3 ESA-Achieve 8/1/05 1:56 PM Page 4 It is a privilege to be part of an organisation with such a rich heritage and exciting The second priority is Exploration. It is a very important priority for our future, potential as the European Space Agency (ESA). The Agency is at a turning point in creating the basis for increasing scientific benefits and for robust European its history, so it is an appropriate moment to document and reflect on the many participation in future large international cooperative space programmes successes of the past and those still under way, while preparing to head in beyond the lifetime of the International Space Station. Europe has always been new directions for the future. highly successful in this domain, as our scientific missions have proved time and again, and it now has a new momentum created in part by the Vision for The remarkable record stretches from humble beginnings in the Space Exploration of President George W. Bush. European spacecraft are now 1960s to ESA’s leading position today among the front rank of orbiting the Moon and Mars and one recently made the first-ever landing on space organisations, generating enormous benefits for its Member Titan, so we are building our future on concrete results. States and their citizens. The Agency has been responsible for developing systems that are now accepted as everyday – and The third priority groups together market technologies, essentially profitable – parts of our lives, leading to the creation of new telecommunications, technologies preparing for the long-term, and dual-use entities and companies responding to our needs. technologies. Technology programmes are a key element of an industrial policy that serve to consolidate the capabilities and competitiveness of European The Ariane rocket alone has provided an impressive return industry. on investment. It has long dominated the world’s commercial launch market, operated by the Arianespace Together, the GMES and technology initiatives provide the foundation for company. The new heavy-lift Ariane-5 is already building responding to the demands of European security policies. a significant reputation as the latest addition to the The three new initiatives build on the priorities defined by the Space Council, a Ariane family. The Meteosat weather satellite system joint meeting of the ESA Council and the European Union Council. ESA’s developed by ESA similarly led to the creation of Foreword relationship with the European Union has been strengthened substantially by a Eumetsat. The ECS communications satellites led to Framework Agreement essential for joint activities. The joint Space Council set Eutelsat, and the Marecs maritime satellites were vitally up by this Framework Agreement held its inaugural meeting in November 2004, important to Inmarsat. These are all now enterprises of the first time that the EU and ESA Councils have met to discuss space policy global importance. Likewise, ESA’s science programme is and the future of space in Europe. Close cooperation between our two second-to-none, and our Earth-observation satellites organisations lies at the heart of European space policy. The pioneering Galileo continue to return torrents of data. Our expertise is such satellite navigation system is but the first joint venture that will put space at the that we are welcomed as a major Partner in the service of European citizens. International Space Station. These missions are all included in this volume. Individual entries cover past, current and The Agency is preparing programme proposals on the basis of this strategy and approved future missions beyond this decade. will submit them to the ESA Ministerial meeting scheduled for December 2005. With these new directions, we can expect that the Agency has an equally Despite this superb record, the Agency cannot afford to stand productive future and a crucial role in the success of Europe. still. We have thus set three main priorities for the future. The first is Global Monitoring for Environment and Security, or GMES. The Jean-Jacques Dordain environment and security are two of the biggest concerns of Europe’s Director-General, European Space Agency citizens, and ESA has been working with the European Commission over the past few years to build a plan for future activities. The time has now come to implement that plan, based on the concrete results that we have already achieved in Earth observation, especially with ERS and Envisat. 4 5 ESA-Achieve 8/1/05 1:56 PM Page 6 Launch date Mission Launch date Mission Europa-I F1 5 Jun 1964 Launcher: test of stage-1 Proba-1 22 Oct 2001 Technology/Earth observation ESRO-2A* 29 May 1967 Science: cosmic rays, solar X-rays Envisat 1 Mar 2002 Earth observation ESRO-2B 17 May 1968 Science: cosmic rays, solar X-rays Meteosat-8 28 Aug 2002 Meteorology: Meteosat Second Generation ESRO-1A 3 Oct 1968 Science: Earth auroral and polar-cap phenomena, ionosphere Integral 17 Oct 2002 Science: gamma-ray astronomy Europa-I F7* 30 Nov 1968 Launcher: first orbital attempt Ariane-5ECA* 11 Dec 2002 Launcher: 9 t GTO-capacity, A5ECA debut HEOS-1 5 Dec 1968 Science: interplanetary medium, bow shock Mars Express 2 Jun 2003 Science: Mars orbiter & lander ESRO-1B 1 Oct 1969 Science: as ESRO-1A SMART-1 27 Sep 2003 Technology/science: lunar orbiter Europa-II F11* 5 Nov 1971 Launcher: orbital demonstration Rosetta 2 Mar 2004 Science: Comet rendezvous (2014-2015) HEOS-2 31 Jan 1972 Science: Earth polar magnetosphere, interplanetary medium Sloshsat 12 Feb 2005 Technology TD-1 12 Mar 1972 Science: UV, X-ray and gamma-ray astronomy *launch failure Only the debut launches of Ariane-1/2/3/4/5/5ECA, ESRO-4 26 Nov 1972 Science: Earth neutral atmosphere, ionosphere, Europa, Vega, Spacelab and ATV are shown. auroral particles Cos-B 9 Aug 1975 Science: gamma-ray astronomy Geos-1 20 Apr 1977 Science: dynamics of Earth magnetosphere OTS-1* 14 Sep 1977 Telecommunications: demonstrate European technologies ISEE-2 22 Oct 1977 Science: Sun/Earth relations and magnetosphere Meteosat-1 23 Nov 1977 Meteorology: pre-operational meteorological services IUE 26 Jan 1978 Science: ultraviolet astronomy OTS-2 12 May 1978 Telecommunications: demonstrated European technologies Geos-2 24 July 1978 Science: Earth magnetospheric fields, waves and particles Ariane-1 24 Dec 1979 Commercial launcher: first of 11 Ariane-1 launches Meteosat-2 19 Jun 1981 Meteorology: pre-operational meteorological services Marecs-A 20 Dec 1981 Telecommunications: maritime communications Marecs-B* 10 Sep 1982 Telecommunications: maritime communications Sirio-2* 10 Sep 1982 Meteorological data distribution & clock synchronisation Exosat 26 May 1983 Science: X-ray astronomy PLANNED Launch date Mission ECS-1 16 Jun 1983 Telecommunications: operational European Communications Satellite MSG-2 Aug 2005 Meteorology: Meteosat Second Generation Spacelab-1 28 Nov 1983 First of 22 manned Spacelab missions, plus Planned CryoSat Sep 2005 Earth observation: polar ice thickness Launches of multi-disciplinary First Spacelab Payload (FSLP) Venus Express Oct 2005 Science: Venus orbiter Ariane-2/3 4 Aug 1984 Commercial launcher: first of 17 Ariane-2/3 launches GSTB-V2 Dec 2005 Navigation: Galileo System Test Bed ESA, ESRO, ECS-2 4 Aug 1984 Telecommunications: operational European launches of Metop-2 Apr 2006 Meteorology: polar meteorological services Communications Satellite ATV 2006 Space station: Automated Transfer Vehicle debut Marecs-B2 10 Nov 1984 Telecommunications: maritime communications GOCE Sep 2006 Earth observation: Earth’s gravity field and geoid ELDO and ESA and Columbus 2006 Space station: research laboratory Giotto 2 Jul 1985 Science: Comet Halley and Comet Grigg- SMOS Mar 2007 Earth observation: soil moisture and ocean salinity Skjellerup encounters related Proba-2 Mar 2007 Technology/solar observation related ECS-3* 12 Sep 1985 Telecommunications: operational European Communications Satellite Planck Aug 2007 Science: map Cosmic Microwave Background missions ECS-4 16 Sep 1987 Telecommunications: operational European missions Herschel Aug 2007 Science: far-IR/sub-mm astronomy Communications Satellite Vega Nov 2007 Launcher: