CALIPSO
Environmental satellite
title: "CALIPSO" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["earth-observation-satellites-of-the-united-states", "environmental-science", "satellites-orbiting-earth", "satellite-meteorology", "satellites-of-france", "spacecraft-launched-by-delta-ii-rockets", "spacecraft-launched-in-2006", "nasa-satellites", "2006-in-france", "spacecraft-decommissioned-in-2023"] description: "Environmental satellite" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CALIPSO" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Environmental satellite ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox spaceflight"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | CALIPSO |
| image | CALIPSO spacecraft model.png |
| image_caption | CALIPSO |
| mission_type | Earth observation |
| operator | NASACNES |
| website | |
| COSPAR_ID | 2006-016A |
| SATCAT | 29108 |
| mission_duration | |
| dimensions | 1.49 x |
| launch_mass | 587 kg |
| power | 562 W |
| launch_date | UTC |
| launch_rocket | Delta 7420-10C D314 |
| launch_site | Vandenberg AFB SLC-2W |
| orbit_reference | Geocentric |
| orbit_regime | Sun-synchronous |
| orbit_periapsis | 701 km |
| orbit_apoapsis | 703 km |
| orbit_eccentricity | 0.0001111 |
| orbit_semimajor | 7080.7 km |
| orbit_inclination | 98.2176 degrees |
| orbit_period | 98.50 minutes |
| orbit_RAAN | 285.6451 degrees |
| orbit_arg_periapsis | 80.3481 degrees |
| orbit_mean_anomaly | 279.7840 degrees |
| orbit_mean_motion | 14.57093780 |
| orbit_rev_number | 40530 |
| apsis | gee |
| :: |
| name = CALIPSO | image = CALIPSO spacecraft model.png | image_caption = CALIPSO
| mission_type = Earth observation | operator = NASACNES | website = | COSPAR_ID = 2006-016A | SATCAT = 29108 | mission_duration =
| spacecraft_bus = | manufacturer = | dimensions = 1.49 x | dry_mass = | launch_mass = 587 kg | power = 562 W
| launch_date = UTC | launch_rocket = Delta 7420-10C D314 | launch_site = Vandenberg AFB SLC-2W | launch_contractor = | entered_service =
| orbit_epoch = | orbit_reference = Geocentric | orbit_regime = Sun-synchronous | orbit_periapsis = 701 km | orbit_apoapsis = 703 km | orbit_eccentricity = 0.0001111 | orbit_semimajor = 7080.7 km | orbit_inclination = 98.2176 degrees | orbit_period = 98.50 minutes | orbit_RAAN = 285.6451 degrees | orbit_arg_periapsis = 80.3481 degrees | orbit_mean_anomaly = 279.7840 degrees | orbit_mean_motion = 14.57093780 | orbit_rev_number = 40530 | apsis = gee
| instruments = | telescope_name = | telescope_type = | telescope_diameter = | telescope_focal_length= | telescope_area = | telescope_wavelength =
CALIPSO was a joint NASA (US) and CNES (France) environmental satellite, built in the Cannes Mandelieu Space Center, which was launched atop a Delta II rocket on April 28, 2006. Its name stands for Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations. CALIPSO launched alongside CloudSat.
Passive and active remote sensing instruments on board the CALIPSO satellite monitored aerosols and clouds 24 hours a day. CALIPSO was originally part of the "A-Train" alongside CloudSat, but moved to a lower orbit called the "C-Train" in 2018. The mission ended on August 1, 2023 after over 17 years. Final passivation occurred on December 15, 2023.
Mission
Three instruments:
- Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) - a lidar that provided high-resolution vertical profiles of aerosols and clouds.
- Wide Field Camera (WFC) - a modified version of the commercial off-the-shelf Ball Aerospace CT-633 star tracker camera. It was selected to match band 1 of the MODIS instrument on the Aqua satellite.
- Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR) - used to detect cirrus cloud emissivity and particle size. The CALIOP laser beam is aligned with the center of the IIR image to optimize joint CALIOP/IIR observations.
In February 2009, CALIPSO switched over to the redundant laser as scheduled. The primary laser achieved its mission goal of three years of successful operation, and the redundant laser has been performing beyond expectations.
The CALIPSO mission was granted extended mission status in June 2009. CALIPSO moved to the C-Train in 2018. The mission ended on August 1, 2023 due to lack of propellant.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Delta_II_7420_on_Launch_Pad_SLC-2W.jpg" caption="The Delta II rocket with CALIPSO and [[CloudSat]] on Launch Pad SLC-2W, [[VAFB]]."] ::
References
References
- (2009). "Overview of the CALIPSO Mission and CALIOP Data Processing Algorithms". Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology.
- (2002). "THE CLOUDSAT MISSION AND THE A-TRAIN: A New Dimension of Space-Based Observations of Clouds and Precipitation". Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
- (2019). "2019 IEEE Aerospace Conference".
- (26 December 2023). "Extinction du satellite CALIPSO".
- "CALIPSO - INSTRUMENT UPDATE". NASA LARC.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::