Science
CryoSat-2
Catalogued as CRYOSAT 2
Cryosphere Monitor · ESA
Right now
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CryoSat-2 has one job: weigh the world's ice. Using a radar altimeter precise enough to measure ice thickness to within centimeters, it monitors the polar ice caps, glaciers, and sea ice across both poles. Its data showed the Arctic lost roughly 960 cubic miles of sea ice volume in the decade after its 2010 launch — a finding that directly feeds into sea level rise projections. ESA's most continuously operated Earth science satellite.
Its orbit
- Orbit
- Low Earth Orbitcan appear as a fast-moving star at dawn or dusk
- Altitude
- 448–451 mi (722–725 km)
- Inclination
- 92.0°
- One orbit
- 99.1 minutes14.5 orbits a day
- NORAD ID
- 36508
- Int’l designator
- 2010-013A
- Launched
- 2010
Orbital elements from CelesTrak, as of 7 Nov 2026.