BackForward Satellite: ICESat-2 

Satellite details
Acronym ICESat-2
Full name Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite
Satellite Description
  • 2nd flight unit of the ICESat programme.
  • Main mission; polar ice observation and ice sheet mass balance, with capability to derive sea ice thickness.
  • Sustantial contribution to cloud and aerosol profiling
  • Significant contribution to land topography and vegetation canopy.
Mass at launch 1390 kg Dry mass 1230 kg
Power 1200 W
Data access link http://nsidc.org/data/icesat/
Data access information
  • Data available from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSDIC), Boulder.
  • Another website for data access is here
Orbit Drifting orbit Altitude 481 km
Inclination 94 °

 

Space agency NASA
Status Operational
Details on Status
(as available)
Launch 15 Sep 2018 EOL ≥2023
Last update: 2022-11-17
Associated satellite programme and related satellites

Note: red tag: no longer operational , green tag: operational , blue tag : future

Satellite Payload

All known Instruments flying on ICESat-2

Acronym Full name
ATLAS Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System
LRA Laser Retroreflector Array
TRSR Turbo Rogue Space Receiver
Show instrument status and calibration