Calipso Launch Delayed Until May

The Calipso (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infra-Red Pathfinder Satellite Observations) mission, a collaborative effort between NASA and CNES dedicated to clouds and aerosols observation, has been delayed from April 15, 2005…

By Space Daily Editorial Team · Editorial process

Published January 17, 2005 · Updated March 14, 2026

The satellite will be launched jointly with the American CloudSat observation satellite from Vandenberg Air Force base.

During the Calipso satellite thermal vacuum testing, a failure was detected within the CALIOP instrument (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Orthogonal Polarization), which has been removed from the platform for further investigation.

The problem has been identified and a recovering plan is currently implemented to solve it. As a result, a 6-week launch slip is expected.

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