Unveiling Sky's Secrets: EarthCARE's Quest for Climate Clarity

At a time when the climate story of our planet plays out with ever-increasing urgency, there is a new hero and it comes from the very highest echelons of space agencies around the world. Tonight, the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch the latest sentinel in the Earth observation fleet, a satellite called EarthCARE (Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer). Equipped with a sophisticated suite of instruments, EarthCARE is designed to study the atmospheric chemistry of clouds and aerosols, a full-on exploration of the chemistry that governs our climate and its change. You can watch it take to the skies tonight. It’s being broadcast live. Documents are published under Creative Commons unless otherwise specified. This article was published in collaboration with SpaceWatch.Global.

The Dawn of EarthCARE: A New Eye in the Sky

Understanding EarthCARE's Mission

At the centre of EarthCARE is the search for an answer to fundamental questions about the dynamics of clouds, aerosol and the energy balance of our planet. With a payload of two active – radar and lidar – and two passive – imager and radiometer – instruments, EarthCARE will be able to measure how clouds and aerosols are structured in vertical space.

Developed jointly by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA), but with a major involvement from the American aerospace giant SpaceX, the mission reflects international co-operation in the cause of environmental custodianship. ‘EarthCARE’s four instruments will provide detailed vertical profile information through the whole atmosphere that can be used by scientists to improve their models, which ultimately will lead to better prediction of global temperature development,’ says Kotska Wallace, EarthCARE Mission and Optical Payload Manager.

Launch Logistics: A Spectacle in the Making

The rendezvous with destiny is at 6:20 p.m. PT, tonight, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. ESA’s YouTube page is a portal that will usher viewers back in time to see the launch live. There will be pre-launch coverage starting at 5:30 p.m. ET. Then viewers can watch as the final preparations are made, and hear from those scientists who will be watching over the instruments.

The FORCE Behind the Launch: SpaceX's Role

That chariot is the SpaceX Falcon 9, just one of numerous demonstrations of how the worlds of space agencies and new space entrepreneurs are coming together. Either way, there is no mistaking the role of SpaceX in opening access to orbit.

Navigating the Horizon: What EarthCARE Promises

EarthCARE is poised to launch into orbit this year, bringing scientists closer than ever before to lifting the curtain of mystery from our understanding of atmospheric dynamics. If all goes according to plan, the mission could provide data sets of unprecedented complexity on cloud and aerosol behaviour, refining climate models and perhaps even transforming the way we predict the climate in coming decades.

Watching the Future Unfold: How to Join the Event

Those who want to watch the launch are invited to do so via a stream on digital media rather than the more time-consuming manner required to see a launch in person. ESA’s YouTube page and the video embedded directly beneath this text will provide the conduit.

Looking Beyond: The Continuing Saga of Earth Observation

The Force of Innovation: Charting the Path Forward

With EarthCARE aloft and gazing down from its cloud-top aerie, it’s joining an ever-expanding, diverse constellation of Earth-observation missions, each adding a distinct thread to the tapestry of our planetary picture. Maybe, together, all of this work — harnessing the fundamentals of human curiosity and ingenuity — will pull us out of the climate mess we’re in.

A Brief Insight into FORCE

Whether you’re talking about a satellite like EarthCARE or anything else, the word force is meant in the physical, technological and collaborative senses of the word. Firstly, the physical force of getting a satellite into space; secondly, the technological development that makes instruments and launch vehicles possible; thirdly, the collaborative effort that brings agencies and companies from all over the world to work together and solve the problems of the globe. The force of our ambition and will are our only anchors for the deeper cosmos, the only things that drive us to the depths of the atmosphere or to the borders of the universe.