Session
Technical Session V: The Year in Retrospect-- Missions that have been Achieved in the Past Year
Abstract
The JASON-1 small satellite was launched in December 2001 and has performed successfully since one year and a half, with in-flight performances exceeding expectations. The JASON-1 mission is dedicated to ocean and climate forecasting, in continuation to the successful TOPEX-POSEIDON satellite, launched in 1992. This project is a cooperation between NASA and CNES. JASON-1 is the first satellite based on the small PROTEUS bus, a cooperative partnership between CNES and Alcatel Space Industries. This project was initiated in 1993 and entered in 1996 in its development phase. At that time, the "Faster, Better, Cheaper" guidelines were driving the decisions and thus strong budgetary and schedule constraints were placed on the project while keeping ambitious technical performances. After more than one year of Jason operations in orbit, this paper gives a synthetic view of the major project achievement with respect to the initial requirements with a focus on advantages and drawbacks of a fast- paced development and qualification, with emphasis on what has been successful and what would need to be adjusted in a future similar development.
Presentation Slides
JASON 1 : Lessons Learned from the Development and 1,5 Year in Orbit
The JASON-1 small satellite was launched in December 2001 and has performed successfully since one year and a half, with in-flight performances exceeding expectations. The JASON-1 mission is dedicated to ocean and climate forecasting, in continuation to the successful TOPEX-POSEIDON satellite, launched in 1992. This project is a cooperation between NASA and CNES. JASON-1 is the first satellite based on the small PROTEUS bus, a cooperative partnership between CNES and Alcatel Space Industries. This project was initiated in 1993 and entered in 1996 in its development phase. At that time, the "Faster, Better, Cheaper" guidelines were driving the decisions and thus strong budgetary and schedule constraints were placed on the project while keeping ambitious technical performances. After more than one year of Jason operations in orbit, this paper gives a synthetic view of the major project achievement with respect to the initial requirements with a focus on advantages and drawbacks of a fast- paced development and qualification, with emphasis on what has been successful and what would need to be adjusted in a future similar development.
