BackForward Satellite Programme: Picard 

Programme details
Programme description
  • Single-satellite programme, addressing solar irradiance.
  • French programme: CNES responsible of development and operations supported by other institutes, especially the CNRS/SA (Service d'Aéronomie), Verrières-le-Buisson, France.
  • The platform is actively stabilised over 3 axes.
  • The design life time is 2 years.
  • The satellite exploits a dawn-dusk sunsynchronous orbit at 6:00.
  • See detailed description at http://smsc.cnes.fr/PICARD/index.htm.
Data circulation
  • Onboard stored and real-time data are managed by CNES from the Toulouse centre.
  • The scientific data are managed by the Picard Scientific Mission Center-Picard (CMS-P), located in Brussels, connected with several Expert Centres.
Agencies CNES
Programme lifetime 2010 - 2014
Associated satellites and instruments

Note: red tag => no longer operational , green tag => operational , blue tag => planned