The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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The Altius mission takes 2D spectral images of the atmosphere’s bright limb, covering field of 100 km x 100 km projected at Earth’s tangent point. The Altius instrument is designed to be able to operate continuously over one orbit in various modes. It will perform acquisitions in a broad wavelength range coping with large differences in light intensity across the various observed scenes. The satellite will follow a Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude baseline of 690 km and at a local time of 10:00. Additionally, it will take advantage of the satellite platform’s agility to operate at different attitudes. This allows for different observation modes, achieving global coverage in three days or less, with a resolution of 5 degrees in latitude and 10 degrees in longitude, which is a threshold requirement for the accuracy of present chemical assimilation models.