So excited/humbled to have #ESA and my partner institutes in #Oslo this week to discuss #CIMR LEVEL-2 products!
#CIMR is an upcoming #Sentinel satellite that will help us monitor the #Earth and its #Climate in the polar regions.
We are at the start of an exciting 4-year activity, the #L2PAD, to prepare #OpenSource algorithms and products for this satellite. Can't wait to meet the team, it will be the first time I meet some of them in person.
@lavergnetho
That's exciting! May they be nice to you and offer delicious cookies!
If I may be so bold, I have a few questions wrt satellite use.
Is #Sentinel#CIMR going to be a dedicated satellite or does the device go piggy-back on another?
When new measurement devices are introduced, is it part of the plan to later consolidate satellite use, ie put more and more devices on a single sat where compatible, once the first of their carriers get de-orbited and replaced?
What is the weight & life expectancy of the new CIMR #satellite and what is its decommissioning procedure – burn up or shoot outside Earth's orbit?
You probably guessed it: my questions relate to #sustainability in general, to space debris, and most of all: the impact of burnt-up satellite material on chemistry and climate.
An institution like #ESA can set the tone so rogue, unregulated actors like #Starlink might soon be reigned-in before their bad biz plan lets 27t of satellite material burn up – every single day!
Historically, satellites (the platform without the instrument) were expensive to build and fly. There was thus a tendency to fit many instruments on one satellite. Meteorology satellites still have this model. It sounds resonable on paper, but also has drawbacks. For example, if the launch or satellite fails, we loose many instruments. Also, it requires trade-offs (e.g. one instruments gets in the way for another, you cannot choose an optimum orbit,...)
Nowadays, satellites are more and more specialized. One instrument per satellite.
For CIMR there was no choice: the CIMR antenna is so big, that any additional sensor would have been in the way. In many cases it makes sense, as you can dimension the satellite to be just what's needed.
So yes, this can mean more cluttering of the orbits, and more space debris. CIMR is so big that ESA schedules a controlled re-entry after her job is dine, after about 7-8 years, I think.