Falcon 9 Launches ESA’s EarthCARE Mission to Study Clouds and Aerosols

ESA Partners with SpaceX to Launch Cutting-Edge Earth Science Mission

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) mission, a joint venture with Japan aimed at enhancing climate and weather modeling. This collaboration marks a critical step in ESA’s reliance on SpaceX for space access amidst current limitations.

The Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 6:20 p.m. Eastern time, with EarthCARE separating from the upper stage approximately ten minutes post-launch. Simonetta Cheli, director of Earth observation programs at ESA, confirmed the spacecraft is functioning nominally.

Over the coming months, controllers will check and calibrate EarthCARE's instruments, aiming for an initial release of scientific data by late this year or early next year. EarthCARE, an €800 million ($870 million) mission, will utilize four instruments, including a cloud profiling radar provided by Japan’s space agency JAXA, to study clouds and aerosols.

The 2,200-kilogram spacecraft, which will operate in a sun-synchronous orbit at 393 kilometers altitude, will collect data critical for atmospheric science. “EarthCARE is designed to study the effect of clouds and aerosols on Earth’s thermal balance,” explained Dirk Bernaerts, ESA’s EarthCARE project manager.

EarthCARE is the second ESA mission to launch on a Falcon 9, following the Euclid space telescope last July. Another Falcon 9 is slated to launch ESA’s Hera asteroid mission this fall. Josef Aschbacher, ESA director general, noted the positive collaboration between ESA and SpaceX teams.