Mission type Technology COSPAR ID 2000-039B Bus Flexbus Inclination 87.18° Period 1.6 hours Launch site Plesetsk Cosmodrome | Operator DLR SATCAT no. 26405 Launch date 15 July 2000 Inclination 87.18° Rocket Kosmos-3M | |
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Mission duration Achieved: 10 years
Planned: 5 years Similar Ørsted, Magsat, Gravity Field and Steady‑St, IMAGE, Galaxy 10R | ||
Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) was a German satellite launched July 15, 2000 from Plesetsk, Russia and was used for atmospheric and ionospheric research, as well as other geoscientific applications, such as GPS radio occultation.
CHAMP was managed by GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Potsdam (GFZ).
The spacecraft is the first application of Astrium's "Flexbus" platform; GRACE was the second. A heavily modified version flew as the GOCE mission.
CHAMP completed its mission and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on 19 September 2010 after 10 years (design life: five years).
The mission was judged as being successful by the involved scientists.
References
CHAMP (satellite) Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA