Ice mission CRISTAL opens its wings

In September, engineers at Airbus’ facilities in Friedrichshafen in Germany finished assembling the satellite, marking a major milestone on its journey towards launch. The team then moved on to a new phase of testing, putting the satellite’s systems through their paces. A key highlight was the first solar panel deployment test.

This crucial test verifies that the mechanisms and software sequences work together as planned, ensuring CRISTAL’s solar wings can be successfully deployed once the satellite reaches orbit. It’s another important step towards getting CRISTAL ready for its mission in space.

Conducted in collaboration with launch service provider AVIO, another key step involved checking that the satellite not only fits on its launch adapter – which is the component that secures the satellite to the rocket – but also that the release mechanism works so that the satellite will separate from the rocket and injected into orbit.

In parallel with these hands-on satellite activities, the project conducted its Intermediate Qualification Status Review. The review examined the qualification and verification status of the satellite’s equipment, instruments and subsystems ahead of the satellite-level qualification tests.

ESA’s CRISTAL Project Manager, Kristof Gantois, said, “Everything is progressing very well and the satellite passed these tests with flying colours, for which I would like to thank everyone involved. This marks an important step towards preparation for the next phase of testing.

“The satellite will be moved from Airbus in Friedrichshafen to the European Space Agency’s establishment in the Netherlands where it will spend most of next year going through stringent environmental tests to ensure that it will withstand liftoff and its life in the harsh environment of space.”

With launch targeted for late 2027 to early 2028, CRISTAL is set to become be the first Copernicus Sentinel Expansion mission to reach orbit. Short for Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter, CRISTAL carries the first dual-frequency radar altimeter along with a microwave radiometer that will measure and monitor changes in sea-ice thickness, overlying snow depth and ice-sheet elevation.

The CRISTAL mission will ensure the long-term continuation of radar altimetry ice elevation and topographic change records for the next two decades at least, following on from previous missions such as ESA’s Earth Explorer CryoSat research mission and other heritage missions.

CRISTAL-B is therefore planned to launch towards the end of CRISTAL-A’s operational lifetime. This approach will help sustain the mission’s observations and provide valuable data for understanding changes in the polar regions and their wider implications for our planet.

As operational mission, CRISTAL will deliver data to support maritime activities in the polar oceans, applications related to coastal and inland waters and the monitoring of ocean topography. By providing precise measurements ice – arguably the most vulnerable part the Earth system, the mission will also contribute to a better understanding of climate processes and their impacts.

With final assembly and deployment tests completed, CRISTAL is steadily progressing towards launch. The coming environmental test campaign at ESA will mark another major step towards delivering this important European capability for monitoring our changing Earth.