Lift-off for European Water Mission

SMOS will play a key role in the monitoring of climate change on a global scale. It is the first satellite designed both to map sea surface salinity and to monitor soil moisture on a global scale. It features a unique interferometric radiometer (MIRAS) that will enable passive surveying of the water cycle between oceans, the atmosphere and land. MIRAS will measure changes in the wetness of the land and in the salinity of seawater by observing variations in the natural microwave emission from the surface of the planet.

Information from SMOS is expected to help improve short and medium-term weather forecasts, and also have practical applications in areas such as agriculture and water resource management. In addition, climate models should benefit from having a more precise picture of the scale and speed of movement of water in the different components of the hydrological cycle.

A Rokot launcher carrying SMOS lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia at 0450 (0150 GMT) on Monday. Some 70 minutes later, the upper-stage of the Rockot released the spacecraft, and telemetry confirming all was well with the mission was acquired by the Hartebeesthoek ground station, near Johannesburg, South Africa.

The SMOS satellite is part of an armada of European spacecraft being sent into orbit over the next few years to study the planet. "We had a very beautiful launch," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, the director-general of the European Space Agency (ESA). "This is not just a satellite; this is a very important event. This is the second of our Earth Explorers and with that we confirm that ESA is the space agency of the world making the best efforts for Earth science and a new understanding of climate change."

For more information, visit the ESA website.