Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment – Continuity (GRACE-C)
After two highly successful missions to measure the Earth’s time variable gravity (GRACE and GRACE-FO), NASA announced a successor mission called GRACE-C to continue the legacy of its predecessors in collaboration with German Aerospace Agency (DLR). Like the predecessors, GRACE-C will also include a pair of identical satellites orbiting in near polar orbit at around 500 km altitude separated by about 200 km. GRACE-C mission aims to take the mass-change data record into the 3rd decade to improve our understanding of the Earth’s changing climate on the water cycle of the Earth. GRACE-C is scheduled for launch in 2028 and is currently under development. Scientist at CSR are contributing towards system engineering, inflight calibrations, science operations management and science data system effort for the mission.