Orbital OCO-2 User Manual
LEO
Earth Science/
Remote Sensing
OCO-2
Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2
FACTS AT A GLANCE
Mission Description
The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) is a "carbon copy" of the OCO spacecraft lost due
to a launch vehicle anomaly. OCO-2 is designed to make the rst space-based measurements of
atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), an important greenhouse gas. Fossil fuel use and other human
activities have almost doubled the concentrations of this gas since the beginning of the industrial
revolution. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is an efcient greenhouse gas because it absorbs and traps
infrared radiation (heat) emitted by the Earth’s surface, preventing it from escaping to space. OCO-2
measurements will help scientists to better understand how increasing CO2 concentrations will drive
climate change around the globe.
Although the biosphere and oceans currently absorb about half of the CO
activities, the nature and geographic distribution of the sources and “sinks” of carbon dioxide are not
clearly understood. By providing the rst global CO2 measurements from space, the two-year OCO-2
mission will revolutionize our understanding of the global carbon cycle. Orbital built the spacecraft under
a contract from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
generated by human
2
Each carbon dioxide molecule includes
one carbon atom (C) sandwiched
between two oxygen (O) atoms, forming
a linear molecule, with the structure
O=C=O
All animals release CO2 into the
atmosphere as a by-product of
metabolism. Plants absorb CO2 from
the air and use it, sunlight, water and
oxygen to produce their own energy
(photosynthesis). Nearly everything we
eat comes directly or indirectly from this
"carbon cycle."
Mission:
NASA Earth System Science Pathnder
(ESSP) program
Customer:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Simulated OCO science data product
showing Column CO
(4° x 5° grid)
2
OCO-2
Specications
Spacecraft
Satellite Mass: 455 kg (1,003 lb.)
Solar Arrays: Triple junction GaAs
Power: 410 W orbit average
Communications: S-band transceiver and X-band science data
transmitter
Stabilization: 3-axis, zero momentum
Propulsion: Hydrazine
Orbit: 705 km, ying in polar, sun-synchronous formation
with EOS A-train
Mission Life: 24 months
Status: At launch site
Payload
Instrument: 3 grating spectrometers
Bandpasses: 0.76, 1.58, 2.06 microns
Instantaneous
Field of View: 1.29 km x 2.25 km
Swath: 10 km
Launch
Launch Vehicle: Delta II
Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Date: July 1, 2014
Mission Partners
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Project management, system engineering, ground data
systems, instrument and operations lead
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Spacecraft design, integration and test, launch operations
and spacecraft ight operations
Science Team
International science team with co-investigators from
the United States, France, Germany, New Zealand, and
Australia
Orbital Sciences Corporation
45101 Warp Drive
©2014 Orbital Sciences Corporation FS008_10_2998
•
Dulles, Virginia 20166
•
www.orbital.com
The OCO-2 satellite at Orbital's Gilbert, Arizona satellite
manufacturing facility
Loading...