Orbit Altitude: 758 km
Orbit Inclination: 98.44 deg
Repeat Cycle: 23 days
Orbit Type: LEO > LOW EARTH ORBIT > POLAR SUN-SYNCHRONOUS

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[Source: ESA, http://www.esa.int/esaLP/ESAMBA2VMOC_LPsmos_0.html ]

ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission has been designed to observe soil moisture over the Earth's landmasses and ... salinity over the oceans. Soil moisture data are urgently required for hydrological studies and data on ocean salinity are vital for improving our understanding of ocean circulation patterns.

Launched on 2 November 2009, SMOS is the second Earth Explorer Opportunity mission to be developed as part of ESA's Living Planet Programme. As well as demonstrating the use of the new radiometer, the data acquired from this mission will contribute to furthering our knowledge of the Earth's water cycle. The data acquired from the SMOS mission will lead to better weather and extreme-event forecasting, and contribute to seasonal-climate forecasting. As a secondary objective, SMOS will also provide observations over regions of snow and ice, contributing to studies of the cryosphere.

Facts and figures
• Launch: 2 November 2009
• Orbit: Mean altitude of 758 km and inclination of 98.44°; low-Earth, polar, Sun-synchronous, quasi-circular, dusk-dawn, 23-day repeat cycle, 3-day sub-cycle
• Lifetime: Three years (including a six-month commissioning phase) with a possible two-year extension
• Instrument: Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis – MIRAS, 2D interferometric L-band radiometer operating at 1.4 GHz (21 cm wavelength), with 69 antenna receivers distributed on a Y-shaped deployable antenna array and central hub. H and V polarisations measured sequentially
• Satellite: Proteus platform adapted to the needs of the SMOS mission
• Satellite mass: 658 kg (platform: 275 kg, payload: 355 kg, fuel: 28 kg)
• Dimensions at launch: Cylinder 2.4 m high and 2.3 m in diameter
• Power: Deployable solar panels with Si-cells, Li-Ion battery. Maximum power available for satellite: 1065 W, maximum consumption for MIRAS payload: 511 W
• Communication links: X-band downlink for science data to ESA’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC) in Villafranca, Spain, complemented by an X-band station in Svalbard, Norway, for acquisition of near-realtime data products; S-band uplink (4 kbps) and downlink (722 kbps) to Kiruna, Sweden, for satellite telemetry and telecommand (generic Proteus ground station)
• Launcher: Rockot (with Breeze-KM upper stage) by Eurockot Launch Services GmbH
• Launch site: Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia
• Mission control: CNES Proteus Control and Command Centre in Toulouse, France, via CNES S-band ground station network – Kiruna in Sweden, Aussaguel in France and Kourou in French Guiana
• Data processing: Data Processing Centre at ESAC, long-term archive at Kiruna, and User Services via ESA’s Centre for Earth Observation ESRIN in Frascati, Italy

http://earth.esa.int/SMOS/
http://www.cnes.fr/web/CNES-en/8042-gp-smos-to-provide-a-unique-map.php
http://esamultimedia.esa.int/docs/SMOS/SMOS_factsheet_22Jun09.pdf
http://www.esa.int/esaLP/ESAMBA2VMOC_LPsmos_0.html