What we did
Spacecraft provider, integration & test lead
We built the CloudSat spacecraft and tested and integrated the Cloud Profiling Radar payload, built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We also tested and integrated other hardware from the Canadian Space Agency.
Both CloudSat and its launch partner CALIPSO are part of a constellation of spacecraft called the "A-Train," including Aqua, Aura and PARASOL, dedicated to studying the Earth’s weather and environment. CloudSat and CALIPSO launched April 28, 2006 from Vandenberg Air Force Base into a polar orbit at an altitude of 438 miles (705 km). In 2018, CALIPSO and Cloudsat left the A-Train and were lowered about 10 miles into their own “C-Train.” The two satellites have resumed working and are delivering collocated measurements.
In 2007, NASA awarded our CloudSat team with a Group Achievement Award for outstanding work in the design, development, assembly, integration, test, launch and early orbit operations of the CloudSat spacecraft.