
Provide global measurement of winds at all levels of the atmosphere, up to 30 km. Aeolus supports:
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Major improvements in understanding and modeling of tropical dynamics
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Improved accuracy of tropical forecasts
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Improved forecasting of intense wind events
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Better definition of planetary scale waves
Launch Date: 22 August 2018 (Vega)
Mission Duration: Funded until end 2021; with a minimum 36 months nominal operations phase.
On-board sensors |
ALADIN |
Direct Detection Doppler Lidar (D3L) operating in the ultra-violet spectral region (355 nm). The instrument measures both Mie scattering from particles and aerosols and Rayleigh scattering from the upper atmosphere |
SSTI |
Satellite-to-Satellite Tracking Instrument; provides GPS observations of the Aeolus orbit |
LRR |
Laser Retro-Reflector; passive optical reflector; enables satellite laser ranging by ground-based stations |
Configuration: Octagonal structure with fixed solar wings, 5.3 m long, cross-section of 0.8 m2; winglets for aerodynamic stabilisation; ultra-stable CFRP structure, EGG instrument structure in carbon-carbon; no moving parts; modulated ion propulsion system for along-track drag-free control; drag sensing done by EGG instrument; attitude sensing in drag-free mode by star trackers and EGG instrument; attitude actuation by magnetic torquers; 8 days full autonomy.
Stabilisation: 3-axis stabilised; controlled to local orbit reference frame
Mass: 1200 kg Beginning of Life, including 280 kg fuel load.

System Budgets |
Power |
GaAs triple junction cells with maximum power point tracker, 2300 W EOL; battery 84Ah |
TM-band |
X-band @5 Mbit/s |
TC-band |
S-band at 2 kbit/s uplink and 8 kbit/sec downlink |
On-board storage |
4 Gbit solid state recorder; up to 72h of data |
Mission Orbit |
Orbit type |
Sun-synchronous, dawn to dusk |
Repeat cycle |
7 days |
Orbit period |
90 min |
Mean local solar time at ascending node |
6 p.m. |
Inclination |
97.056 deg |
Mean Altitude |
Approximately 320 km |
Ground stations: Kiruna 15 m; single station for telemetry; Svalbard for payload data reception; other stations can support, avoiding blind orbits for NRT
Mission operations: Flight operations from ESOC; satellite maintenance from ESTEC; payload data ground processing at KSAT and ECMWF user services from ESRIN