NSSDCA/COSPAR ID: 2000-075B
SAC-C is an International (Argentina plus USA, France, Italy, Denmark, and Brazil) satellite that was launched by a Delta 2 rocket at 13:24 UT from Vandenberg AFB. Its mission is to remotely-sense vegetation, wetlands, and ecosystem in four wavelength bands covering 0.4-1.75 microns, with a spatial resolution of 1 km. The orbital planes of SAC-C, EO 1, Landsat 7 (1999-020A), and Terra (1999-068A) are closely coplanar, with a given site being successively visited by each spacecraft within an hour of each other. Also on-board is the GOLPE (GPS OccuLtation and Passive reflection Experiment) with a GPS receiver receiving signals from the GPS fleet (a) directly, (b) after reflection from Earth's surface, and (c) after the signals traversed the dense atmosphere and ionosphere tangentially. These tangentially penetrating signals carry phase change information which may be utilized in deriving the atmospheric density/temperature structures, and the ionospheric electron density profiles. It also carries a Helium Magnetometer.
Launch Date: 2000-11-21
Launch Vehicle: Delta II
Launch Site: Vandenberg AFB, United States
Mass: 475 kg
Questions and comments about this spacecraft can be directed to: Coordinated Request and User Support Office