After successful checkout and calibration of the attitude and orbit control systems, 14 orbit control maneuvers were conducted between April 5 and 9, 2022. EnMAP has attained its reference orbit at 642 km mean altitude with a ground-track repeat cycle of 398 revolutions in 27 days and a mean local time of descending node of 11:00 h. Thanks to the precise separation after launch on April 1, 2022, only 2.3 kg of hydrazine were consumed in total. The satellite mass is now estimated with 914 kg, including 57 kg of propellant available for orbit maintenance and collision avoidance maneuvers. The ongoing Launch and Early Operations Phase (LEOP) will continue with the checkout of the data downlink and the instrument, in particular.
The image illustrates the predicted EnMAP orbital evolution in the period from target orbit acquisition on 2022-04-09 until 2022-05-15. The coordinate origin is the EnMAP reference orbit. The satellite orbit is maintained within a control box of +/- 6 km in radial direction and +/- 22 km in normal direction. Orbit control maneuvers are planned shortly before violation of the boundaries of the control box are violated. This is forecasted for May 15, 2022.