ADM-Aeolus
Aeolus, or, in full, Atmospheric Dynamics Mission-Aeolus (ADM-Aeolus), was an Earth observation satellite operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was built by Airbus Defence and Space, launched on 22 August 2018, and re-entered the atmosphere over Antarctica in a controlled manner and burned up on 28 July 2023. ADM-Aeolus was the first satellite with equipment capable of performing global wind-component-profile observation and provided much-needed information to improve weather forecasting. Aeolus was the first satellite capable of observing what the winds are doing on Earth, from the surface of the planet and into the stratosphere 30 km high. The satellite was named after Aeolus, a god from the Greek mythology, the ruler of the winds. Program The program was initially approved in 1999 for a 2007 launch but technological obstacles caused 11 years of delay, as it was launched on 22 August 2018. For an estimated €481 million (US$568 million) program cost, it was planned to provide 64,000 daily profiles from March or April 2019. Its altitude was a low for enough backscattered light sensibility, inducing a short 3 years life expectancy. Mission Aeolus was the fifth planned satellite in the Living Planet Programme (LPP) of the European Space