Aqua (satellite)

Aqua
Artist's rendering of the Aqua satellite
NamesEOS PM-1
Mission typeEarth observation
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID2002-022A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.27424
Websiteaqua.nasa.gov
Mission duration6 years (planned)
Elapsed: 24 years, 5 months and 20 days
Spacecraft properties
BusT330 (AB-1200)
ManufacturerTRW
Launch mass3,117 kilograms (6,872 lb)
Dimensions4.81 m × 16.7 m × 8.04 m (15.8 ft × 54.8 ft × 26.4 ft)
Power4.444 kilowatts
Start of mission
Launch dateMay 4, 2002, 09:54:58 (2002-05-04UTC09:54:58Z) UTC
RocketDelta II 7920-10L
D-291
Launch siteVandenberg SLC-2W
ContractorBoeing
End of mission
Last contact2026-2027 (planned)
Decay date2046 (planned)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth
Semi-major axis7,080.6 kilometers (4,399.7 mi)
Eccentricity0.0000979
Perigee altitude702 kilometers (436 mi)
Apogee altitude703 kilometers (437 mi)
Inclination98.1987°
Period99 minutes
RAAN95.2063°
Argument of perigee120.4799°
Mean anomaly351.4268°
Mean motion14.57116559
Epoch02 June 2016, 10:25:37 UTC
Revolution no.74897

Logotype of the mission.
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Aqua (EOS PM-1) is a NASA scientific research satellite in orbit around the Earth, studying the precipitation, evaporation, and cycling of water. It is the second major component of the Earth Observing System (EOS) preceded by Terra (launched 1999) and followed by Aura (launched 2004).

The name "Aqua" comes from the Latin word for water. The satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on May 4, 2002, aboard a Delta II rocket. Aqua operated in a Sun-synchronous orbit as the third in the satellite formation called the "A Train" with several other satellites (OCO-2, the Japanese GCOM W1, PARASOL, CALIPSO, CloudSat, and Aura) for most of its first 20 years; but in January 2022 Aqua left the A-Train (as Cloud Sat, CALIPSO and PARASOL had already done) when, due to its fuel limitations, it transitioned to a free-drift mode, wherein its equatorial crossing time is slowly drifting to later times, from its tightly controlled orbit.

Mission

Aqua is one of NASA's missions for Earth science operating in the A-Train constellation. It has demonstrated a very high level of precision in making the primary long-term measurements of the mission. These highly calibrated climate quality measurements of radiance, reflectance, and backscatter have been used to cross-calibrate past and present sensors launched by NASA, as well as a variety of sensors launched from other agencies and the international community. Thousands of scientists and operational users from around the world have made use of the Aqua data to address NASA's 6 interdisciplinary Earth science focus areas: Atmospheric Composition, Weather, Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems, Water and Energy Cycle, Climate Variability and Change, and Earth Surface and Interior.

Aqua has experienced some minor, non-mission ending anomalies.

Because of a 2007 anomaly with the Solid State Recorder (SSR) it can only hold two orbits worth of data.

A series of solar array and array regulator electronics anomalies starting in 2010 has led to the loss of 23 strings of solar cells out of a total of 132 strings by 2022 and another 10 were lost on ARE-1A on August 29, 2024.

A 2005 short circuit within a battery cell led to a partial loss of cell capacity.

On September 8, 2007, the Dual Thruster Module (DTM-2) Heater experienced an anomaly.

In 2009, a solar panel thermistor failed and an error in the Solar Array offset was detected. The offset issue has been corrected periodically since then.

On August 16, 2020, The Formatter Multiplexer Unit (FMU) experienced an anomaly, corrupting some data in the SSR and stopping all data streams until it was recovered on September 2, 2020. On February 22, 2022 the FMU/SSR suffered a sub-module failure from which it recovered on March 23, 2022.

A few days later in 2022, a single event upset while in the South Atlantic Anomaly resulted in a switch from Power Controller-A to B and an entry to Earth Point Mode. A full recovery was completed on April 15, 2022.

Aqua completed the last of its drag makeup maneuvers, mandated by fuel limitations, in December 2021 and the next month it entered a free-drift mode, slowly descending below the A-Train and drifting to later equatorial crossing times, and lower altitudes. It exceeded its desired mean local time in February of 2023. For a time Aqua was a candidate for a life-extending re-fueling mission, but that was never attempted. In August 2025, the end of mission plan was to shut down instruments on August 26, 2026, perigee lowering maneuvers in September and October and begin passivation of the spacecraft in November, though a January 2025 analysis determined there was a 96.9% probability that the spacecraft could function through the end of 2026. By June 2026, they were predicting it would operate into September.

In 2019, the worst-case scenario would result in a re-entry by 2046.

Instruments

Aqua carries six instruments for studies of water on the Earth's surface and in the atmosphere, of which four are still operating:

The Aqua spacecraft has a mass of about 2,850 kilograms (6,280 lb), plus propellant of about 230 kilograms (510 lb) at launch. Stowed for launch, the satellite fit in a volume of 2.68 m x 2.49 m x 6.49 m. Deployed, Aqua is 4.81 m x 16.70 m x 8.04 m.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Joseph M. (4 May 2022). "Aqua Turns 20". Retrieved 5 May 2022. [dead link]
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Aqua August 2025 Status" (PDF). Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  3. ↑ Parkinson, Claire. "Aqua Status, Ac+vi+es in the Past 12 Months, and Future Plans" (PDF). Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  4. 1 2 Guit, Bill (13 June 2017). "EOS Aqua Mission Status at the Earth Science Constellation Mission Operations Working Group (MOWG) Meeting at GSFC" (PDF). Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  5. ↑ "Case PM_MYD_20229_NRT". Archived from the original on 16 September 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  6. ↑ "Aqua will turn 23 on May 4, 2025!". Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  7. ↑ "Aqua Status". Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  8. ↑ Guit, Bill. "EOS Aqua Mission Status at the Earth Science Constellation (ESC) Mission Operations Working Group (MOWG) Meeting In Toulouse, France" (PDF). Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  9. ↑ Spencer, Roy W. "AMSR-E Ends 9+ Years of Global Observations". drroyspencer.com. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  10. ↑ Guit, Bill. "AMSR-E Recovery" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  11. ↑ MIURA, Satoko Horiyama. "AMSR-E Spun Down on Dec. 2015" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  12. ↑ Vandemark, Douglas. "NASA Earth Science Senior Review Subcommittee Report — 2017" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  13. ↑ Liu, Guosheng (22 June 2015). NASA Earth Science Senior Review 2015 (PDF) (Report). Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  14. 1 2 "Aqua Summary August 31, 2017" (PDF). Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  15. 1 2 3 Parkinson, Claire. "2015 Aqua Update" (PDF). Retrieved 16 October 2017.