ESA confirmed that the Aeolus spacecraft was operating normally after the time of closest approach.
PRISMA was originally scheduled to launch in 2018 but was pushed into 2019 by delays with the European Space Agency’s Aeolus wind-mapping satellite, which also required a Vega launch.
The Italian Space Agency’s Prisma satellite was planned for a 2018 launch but was delayed to 2019 due to delays with ESA’s Aeolus wind-mapping satellite.
ESA’s Aeolus wind-mapping satellite launched on a Vega in August 2018.
ESA initiated the Aeolus program in 1999 and originally intended to launch the satellite in 2007.
The European Space Agency’s Aeolus wind sensor captured its first wind data that demonstrate the sensor is working as designed.
ESA launched the 1,360-kilogram Aeolus satellite on 2018-08-22 from Kourou, French Guiana on Europe’s Vega rocket.
Airbus Defense and Space built the Aeolus satellite in the U.K. with two light detection and ranging (lidar) instruments from Selex Galileo of Italy.
ESA and Airbus shipped the Aeolus satellite from Europe to French Guiana by boat instead of by plane to avoid damage from air pressure variations.
Aeolus will operate in a 320-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit.
The Aeolus team built a space-capable oxygenator from scratch with components designed to operate across extreme pressure differences.