Displaying items by tag: GFZ

The GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ), or "Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences", commonly called GFZ is the German national research center for Earth Sciences and Geosciences.

It is located in Potsdam, in the German federal state of Brandenburg, and is part of the Helmholtz Association of National Research Centers.

Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) was a German satellite launched July 15, 2000 from Plesetsk, Russia, and was used for atmospheric and ionospheric research, as well as other geoscientific applications, such as GPS radio occultation. 

CHAMP was managed by GeoForschungsZentrum (GFZ), Potsdam, Germany. The spacecraft was the first application of Astrium's "Flexbus" platform, and it was a cooperative project between Germany and NASA. NASA providing a GPS Blackjack Flight receiver built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

CHAMP completed its mission and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere on 19 September 2010 after 10 years (design life: five years).