[17 March 2009] ESA’s Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) launched: GOCE was successfully launched today at 14:21 GMT from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia with a Rockot vehicle. The first launch attempt on 16 March 2009 had to be aborted due to a malfunction in the launch tower. On March 17, 2009 the Rockot took of northward over the Arctic, and after about 90 minutes, the satellite was released into a circumpolar orbit at 280 km altitude with an inclination to the Equator of 96.7°.

GOCE Launch. Picture from http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMV5HITYRF_index_1.html.

The one day delay of the launch created a remarkable coincidence: the day of the GOCE launch is exact to the day 51 years after Vanguard 1 was launched and 7 years after GRACE was launched. Vanguard 1, launched on March 17, 1958, is by now the longest lived satellite still in orbit, and orbit perturbations of this satellite contributed to earlier determination of Earth's gravity field. GRACE, launched on March 17, 2002, turned into one of the most successful single satellites ever in terms of boosting our knowledge of the gravity field and the global water cycle. GOCE surely will add to the success of these older satellites and from now on, March 17 will be a day to remember (and celebrate) the anniversary of the launches of three important missions that sense the Earth's gravity field.

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