Updated on
Summary
Two new satellites launched into space by European Space Agency in a bid to better understand global climate change and explore earth's water cycle. About 70 minutes after take-off at Plesetsk in northern Russia, the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission successfully separated from the launcher. Shortly after the satellite's initial telemetry was acquired by the SMOS control station in Toulouse, France. It is the first satellite designed both to map sea surface salinity and to monitor soil moisture on a global scale.
