NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are reconsidering the decision to deorbit their joint $650 million Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite in 2005 after protests from international Earth science users.
TRMM is providing useful data, but NASA, grappling with the new US exploration initiative, told JAXA earlier this year that it could no longer afford the $4 million annual operational costs and had other Earth observation priorities.
Financially constrained JAXA is not in a position to protest much, but the scientists who rely on the data from this unique spacecraft are calling for a stay of execution. The craft is supplying good data despite being originally scheduled for only an 18-month mission after launch in 1999.
NASA built the 3,500kg satellite and has paid for its operating costs, the former National Space Development Agency (NASDA) of Japan providing the key radar instrument and the H2 booster launch.
NASA says the issue is about safety and the need to perform the deorbit when the spacecraft is still fully operational in an effort to avoid the danger of leaving debris in orbit or risking parts of the craft hitting the Earth in an uncontrolled re-entry.
A compromise decision would be to extend the mission by two years, while a controlled re-entry is possible, and developing a follow-on TRMM 2 mission that could involve the use of a constellation of satellites.
Source: Flight International
