CIMR satellite with reflector deployed

At 14 metres high – as high as a four-floor building – the Copernicus Imaging Microwave Radiometer (CIMR) satellite is large. The reflector alone is eight metres wide when it unfolds after launch. The satellite features a particular platform that carries, powers and manages the rotating microwave radiometer that is at the top and which transfers the scientific data to Earth. It is equipped with a scanner that allows the 700 kg microwave radiometer instrument to rotate at 7.8 rpm. Once in orbit, the satellite deploys its reflector, which measures eight metres in diameter. The whole satellite weighs 2000 kg.

CIMR is designed to measure sea-ice concentration, sea-surface temperature, sea-surface salinity, and more.