Launch Success
Liftoff Time (GMT)
09:21:26
Sunday March 17, 2002
First NASA mission to be launched on a Soviet/Russian launcher.
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) was a joint mission of NASA and the German Aerospace Center. Twin satellites took detailed measurements of Earth's gravity field anomalies from its launch in March 2002 to the end of its science mission in October 2017. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) is a continuation of the mission on near-identical hardware, launched in May 2018. By measuring gravity anomalies, GRACE showed how mass is distributed around the planet and how it varies over time. Data from the GRACE satellites is an important tool for studying Earth's ocean, geology, and climate. GRACE was a collaborative endeavor involving the Center for Space Research at the University of Texas at Austin, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the German Aerospace Center, and Germany's National Research Center for Geosciences, Potsdam. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory was responsible for the overall mission management under the NASA ESSP (Earth System Science Pathfinder) program.
Low Earth Orbit
2 Payloads
967 kilograms
Manufacturer
KhrunichevPrice
$13.00 million
Rocket
Height: 29.1m
Payload to Orbit
LEO: 2,150 kg
GTO: 0 kg
Liftoff Thrust
1,875 Kilonewtons
Fairing
Diameter: 2.62m
Height: 6.74m
Stages
3
5th
Mission
1st
Mission of 2002
2nd
Mission
1st
Mission of 2002
12th
Orbital launch attempt