Having succesfully passed the stage of environmental testing carried out at the Laboratorio de Integração e Testes (LIT) of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) at São Jose dos Campos, Brazil, SAC-D/Aquarius satellite will be transported to Vandeberg Air Force Base in California, USA, where it will be integrated to NASA’s Delta II Launcher to be placed in orbit on June, 9th.
The SAC-D/Aquarius is a satellite designed and constructed by INVAP for the National Space Agency (CONAE), in a joint mission with US Space Agency NASA which provides the main payload, the Aquarius instrument, able of measuring the ocean surface salinity at a gloabl scale. Monthly measurements will be obtained, of vital importance to study and understand climate change.
The mission includes contributions from the Italian Space Agency (ASI, the French Center of Space Studies (CNES) , the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and the Brazilian Institute of Space Research (INPE). Besides, several institutions from the National System of Science and Technology, such as the Argentine Atomic Energy Agency (CNEA), the Engineering Faculty of the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, the Argentine Institute of Radioastronomy (IAR) and CONICET’s Center of Optical Research (CIOP), the Universidad Tecnológica Nacional (UTN), the IUA (Aeronautical University Institute) as well as technology based local companies such as DTA S.A, CONSULFEM and STI have participated in the project.
+info:
Laura Sarrate – CONAE Press Contact
Centro Espacial Teófilo Tabanera – Falda del Carmen – Córdoba
Tel.: 03547 431 075 – prensa@conae.gov.ar
www.conae.gov.ar
