CHAMP
Encyclopedia
CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) is a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

 launched July 15, 2000 from Plesetsk
Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk.-Overview:...

, Russia and was used for atmospheric
Earth's atmosphere
The atmosphere of Earth is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth that is retained by Earth's gravity. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention , and reducing temperature extremes between day and night...

 and ionospheric research, as well as other geoscientific applications, such as GPS radio occultation
Radio occultation
Radio occultation is a remote sensing technique used for measuring the physical properties of a planetary atmosphere. It relies on the detection of a change in a radio signal as it passes through the planet's atmosphere i.e. as it is occulted by the atmosphere. When electromagnetic radiation...

.

CHAMP was managed by GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ) Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....

 (GFZ).

The spacecraft is the first application of Astrium's "Flexbus" platform; GRACE
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment
The Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment , a joint mission of NASA and the German Space Agency, has been making detailed measurements of Earth's gravity field since its launch in March 2002....

 was the second. A heavily modified version flew as the GOCE
Goce
Goce is an opera composed by Kiril Makedonski in tribute to Gotse Delchev. The work was commissioned to be the very first opera performed by the Macedonian National Opera Company. It premiered on May 24, 1954 and it is the first opera to be written in the Macedonian language....

mission.

CHAMP completed its mission and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on 19 September 2010 after 10 years (design life: five years).

The mission was judged as being very successful by the involved scientists

External links

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