Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem
Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) is a NASA Earth-observing satellite mission that will continue and advance observations of global ocean color, biogeochemistry, and ecology, as well as the carbon cycle, aerosols and clouds. PACE will be used to identify the extent and duration of phytoplankton blooms and improve understanding of air quality. These and other uses of PACE data will benefit the economy and society, especially sectors that rely on water quality, fisheries and food security.
An artist's concept of NASA's PACE spacecraft in orbit. | |
| Names | Pre-Aerosol, Cloud, and ocean Ecosystem PACE |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Remote sensing |
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | 2024-026A |
| SATCAT no. | 58928 |
| Website | pace |
| Mission duration | 3-10 years (planned) 5 days (in progress) |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft | PACE |
| Manufacturer | Goddard Space Flight Center |
| Launch mass | 1694 kg |
| Dimensions | 1.5 x 1.5 x 3.2 meters |
| Power | 1000 watts |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 8 February 2024, 06:33 UTC |
| Rocket | Falcon 9 Block 5 |
| Launch site | Cape Canaveral, SLC-40 |
| Contractor | SpaceX |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric orbit (planned) |
| Regime | Sun-synchronous orbit |
| Altitude | 676.5 km |
| Inclination | 98.0° |
| Period | 2-day global coverage 60° instrument view angle |
| Transponders | |
| Band | S-Band - Command & Telemetry Ka-Band - Science Data |
| Instruments | |
| Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) Spectro-Polarimeter for Planetary Exploration (SPEXone) Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter #2 (HARP2) | |
PACE mission logo | |
After being proposed for cancellation under President Trump's FY 2018 budget, it was restored by Congress. The PACE project is managed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The main instrument and bus were designed and built at Goddard Space Flight Center.
On 4 February 2020, NASA announced the selection of SpaceX to launch PACE on a Falcon 9, at a total cost to NASA of US$80.4 million, including the launch service and other mission-related costs. The total cost of the mission is $964 million, which includes spacecraft construction, launch, and operations. PACE successfully launched on 8 February 2024 at 06:33 UTC.