Envisat testing in LSS

The Envisat Payload Module after completion of thermal testing in the Large Space Simulator at ESTEC in August 1999. Envisat is the largest and most complex satellite ever built in Europe. Its package of 10 instruments is designed to make major contributions to the global study and monitoring of the Earth, such as global warming, climate change, ozone depletion, and ocean and ice monitoring. Launch of the 8-tonne Envisat on its 5-year mission is planned on an Ariane-5 from Kourou, French Guiana in late 2000. [Image Date: 01-09-99] [99.09.005-021]