Thales
Alenia
Space
to
built
Jason-3
operational
oceanographic
satellite
February
24,
2010
Thales
Alenia
Space
announced
to
have
signed
with
French
Space
Agency
(CNES),
the
contract
to
build
the
Jason-3
satellite.
The
Jason-3
operational
oceanographic
mission
involves
a
quadripartite
collaboration
between
the
two
meteorological
organizations
Eumetsat
and
NOAA,
acting
as
the
leaders
of
the
program,
and
CNES
and
its
American
counterpart
NASA.
Jason-3
will
allow
the
continuity
of
high
precision
ocean
topography
measurements
beyond
TOPEX/Poseidon,
Jason-1
and
Jason-2,
which
are
now
operational
in
orbit.
It
will
also
provide
a
bridge
to
an
operational
mission
to
enable
the
continuation
of
multi-decadal
ocean
topography
measurements.
Jason
3
will
offer
the
same
ocean
measurement
accuracy
as
Jason
2,
including
near
coastal
zones,
as
well
as
lakes
and
rivers.
Based
on
the
Proteus
platform,
Jason-3
features
the
Poseidon-3B
altimeter,
also
developed
by
Thales
Alenia
Space
in
Toulouse.
The
Poseidon-3B
dual-frequency
altimeter
continues
to
be
the
key
instrument
in
this
spaceborne
observation
programme.
Included
in
the
core
mission,
Jason-3
will
embark
the
DORIS
precise
orbit
determination
system,
an
Advanced
Microwave
Radiometer
(AMR),
a
GPS
payload
(GPSP),
and
a
Laser
Retro-reflector
Array
(LRA).
The
satellite
will
be
placed
in
the
same
orbit
as
Jason-2,
at
an
altitude
of
1,336
kilometres
with
an
inclination
of
66
degrees,
to
provide
virtually
blanket
coverage
of
all
ice-free
ocean
surfaces.
Its
weight
at
launch
is
553
kilogrammes,
with
550
W of
power
and
pointing
accuracy
of
0.15°
(half-cone).
Its
launch
is
expected
for
mid
2013
for
a
mission
life
of 3
years.
Thales
Alenia
Space
is
Europe’s
leader
in
climate
change
monitoring
and
is
at
the
heart
of
environmental
initiatives.
The
company,
as a
key
player,
has
helped
oceanography
to
become
operational.
The
huge
system
of
surface
and
deep-water
currents
drives
massive
exchanges
of
heat
and
energy
through
all
the
oceans
of
the
planet
and
can
be
considered
as
one
of
the
main
engines
of
Earth’s
climate.
Poseidon
altimeters
played
a
key
role
in
the
depiction
and
understanding
of
this
phenomenon.
The
Soil
Moisture
and
Ocean
Salinity
(SMOS)
mission,
built
by
Thales
Alenia
Space
and
launched
in
November
2009,
will
provide
regular
maps
of
sea
surface
salinity,
showing
where
and
when
large
amounts
of
fresh
waters
are
introduced
in
the
cycle,
for
instance
through
rains,
about
90%
of
which
are
estimated
to
fall
over
open
sea.
To
complete
the
global
understanding
of
the
water
cycle,
CryoSat,
will
feature
a
unique
instrument,
the
Siral
interferometry
radar
altimeter
- to
monitor
the
thickness
of
sea
ice
and
ice
shelf’s.
Through
GMES
and
the
Sentinel
satellites
program,
Thales
Alenia
Space
is
already
working
on
the
next
generation
of
satellites
that
will
continue
monitoring
the
water
cycle
at a
global
scale.
For
more
than
20
years,
Thales
Alenia
Space
has
been
in
the
forefront
of
efforts
to
meet
major
environmental
challenges,
whether
meteorological
or
oceanographic.
The
company
is
also
a
worldwide
leader
in
high-performance
optical
and
radar
payloads,
for
civil
and
military
use.
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