EarthCARE: Europe's mission to shed light on clouds? [updated - first results]

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How will EarthCARE shed light on clouds?

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In around six months, ESA’s Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer mission will take to the skies to advance our understanding of the interactions between clouds, aerosols and radiation in Earth’s atmosphere. But how will it do that exactly?

Clouds remain one of the biggest uncertainties in how the atmosphere drives the climate system. A better understanding of the relationship between clouds, aerosols and radiation is a high priority in both climate research and weather prediction.

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ESA’s cloud mission in the limelight

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Dedicated to delivering a wealth of new information on exactly how clouds and aerosols affect Earth’s climate, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite has had the chance to show off prior to engineers embarking upon the careful task of packing it up for its journey to the launch site in the US.

Carrying four different instruments, this remarkable satellite is the most complex of ESA’s Earth Explorer missions – missions that return key scientific information that advances our understanding of how planet Earth works as a system and the impact that humans are having on natural processes.

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EarthCARE out of the box

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After being packed up in Germany, a long voyage to the US and then a month in storage, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite has been carefully lifted out of its transport container so that the team at the launch site can start getting it ready for its big day in May.

With the climate crisis increasingly tightening its grip, the Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer, or EarthCARE for short, carries a set of four state-of-the-art instruments that will work together to provide a holistic view of complex interplay between clouds, aerosols, incoming solar radiation and outgoing radiation to yield new insight into Earth’s radiation balance.

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Last look at EarthCARE

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ESA’s EarthCARE satellite being encapsulated with in the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket fairing, which protects the satellite during the first stages of launch.

ESA’s Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) carries a set of four instruments that work together to answer critical scientific questions related to the role that clouds and aerosols play in reflecting incident solar radiation back out to space and trapping infrared radiation emitted from Earth’s surface. 

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EarthCARE ready for launch

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With liftoff now set for 29 May at 00:20 CEST (28 May, 15:20 local time), ESA’s EarthCARE satellite ready for launch at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Once in orbit, this new satellite is set to revolutionise our understanding of how clouds and aerosols affect Earth’s climate.

Over the last six weeks, the team of satellite engineers at the base have been meticulously preparing EarthCARE for launch. This culminated in the all-important ‘launch readiness review’, which signalled the green light for liftoff.

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EarthCARE stands tall

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The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying ESA’s EarthCARE satellite is poised patiently on the launch pad at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Once in orbit, this new satellite is set to revolutionise our understanding of how clouds and aerosols affect Earth’s climate.

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Mission Control GO for EarthCARE launch

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At ESA’s ESOC mission control, in Darmstadt, Germany, every launch is preceded by a pre-launch briefing – and the all-important group photo. This is the team that will fly EarthCARE – ESA’s newest and most complex Earth Explorer dedicated to improving our understanding of our planet and the impact that human activity has on it.

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EarthCARE launched to study role of clouds and aerosols in Earth's climate

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ESA’s EarthCARE satellite, poised to revolutionise our understanding of how clouds and aerosols affect our climate, has been launched. This extraordinary satellite embarked on its journey into space on 29 May at 00:20 CEST (28 May, 15:20 local time) aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, US.

Just 10 minutes later, the satellite separated from the rocket. Then, at 01:14 CEST, the Hartebeesthoek ground station in South Africa received the all-important signal indicating that EarthCARE is safely in orbit around Earth.

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EarthCARE on cloud nine after smooth start to mission

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ESA’s EarthCARE mission has completed its important ‘Launch and Early Orbit Phase’ and is ready to begin the commissioning of its four scientific instruments. The data they gather will improve our understanding of the role that clouds and aerosols play in Earth’s radiation balance and benefit both climate modelling and weather forecasting.

EarthCARE launched at 00:20 CEST on 29 May on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA. A launch is always spectacular – decades of hard work have led to this pivotal moment – but it doesn’t last long. Just 10 minutes after launch, EarthCARE separated from the rocket and was, for the first time, alone in orbit.

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A first: EarthCARE reveals inner secrets of clouds

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Less than a month after it was launched, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite has returned the first image from one of its instruments – an image that, for the first time from space, unveils the internal structure and dynamics of clouds.

This remarkable first image, captured by the satellite’s cloud profiling radar, offers a mere glimpse of the instrument's full potential once it is fully calibrated.

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