OCO

Orbiting Carbon Observatory
Also called ESSP 5

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General

Designation	n/a
Launch date	24 Feb 2009
Country of origin	United States
Mission	Observation of high atmosphere
Perigee/Apogee	700 km
Inclination
Period
Launch vehicle	Taurus #8

Built for NASA JPL, worth $39 million

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End of life

Out of service	Launch failure
Cause	Separation problem. The root caused was not discovered immediately. In 2019 an investigation concluded that SPI altered test results provided to OSC. SPI agreed to pay $46 million to US government.

Would have collected and disseminates precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere to scientists studying global climate change.

Technical data

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Specifications

Prime contractor	OSC
Platform	LeoStar-2
Mass at launch	407 kg
Dry mass
Dimension
Solar array
Stabilization
DC power
Design lifetime	2 years

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