The European-Japanese EarthCARE mission was successfully launched on Wednesday 29 May 2024. The EarthCARE satellite is also known under its nickname ‘White Dragon’, embodying the satellite’s appearance, with its white body and solar panel resembling a long tail.
EarthCARE is ESA’s 6th Cloud, Aerosol, Radiation Explorer. It is the largest and most complex of the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Earth Explorer missions. It is as a cooperation between ESA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Using four instruments it will examine the role that clouds and aerosols play in reflecting solar radiation back into space and in trapping infrared radiation emitted from Earth’s surface. Thus, the missions will advance our understanding of climate change.
The above Figure shows the EarthCARE swath from 1 June 2025, showing a pyCB over Hudson Bay, Canada. For more interesting results see the ESA article: EarthCARE sees Canadian wildfire smoke spreading over the Northern Hemisphere