SCISAT

Launched in August 2003 by a Pegasus rocket near Lompock, California, SCISAT is the first atmospheric research satellite developed and flown by CSA since ISIS-2 in the early 1970s. With a diameter of 112 cm, a height of 104 cm, and a total mass of only 150 kg, tiny SCISAT has a 650-km-high polar orbit, circling the Earth 15 times a day. Its scientific instruments—a Fourier-transform spectrometer and another instrument named MAESTRO—use sunlight to identify the gases and particles in the Earth's middle atmosphere. The data will help us better understand ozone layer depletion. (Credit: Bristol Aerospace)