EnviSat was launched in March 2002 with a design life of 5 years. In 2009, technical status of the spacecraft and payload allowed for extending the Envisat mission through to 2013.
The high performance and availability of the RA-2 has to be ensured throughout the operational phase of the Envisat mission. For that purpose, specific expertise is necessary to analyse and maintain the performance evolution and operability of the RA-2 subsystems and more specifically for the investigation and recovery of the RA-2 anomalies.
In order to support the operation of this instrument during Phase E, ESA requires senior remote sensing engineering support, with experience in the RA-2. The expert responsible for this support should have an intimate knowledge of the design and performance of the EnviSat RA-2, and should have ideally participated in the development, calibration and commissioning of the RA-2. IsardSAT has been awarded by ESA to undertake this support since the end of the Commissioning Phase and during the complete life of the EnviSat mission