ESA prepares GOCE for next week's launch

MIRNY, Russia, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency says its next spacecraft to be launched has been encapsulated in its protective fairing at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia.

The 16-foot-long satellite -- called GOCE, for Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer -- is be launched Wednesday and inserted into an orbit about 175 miles above the Earth's surface.

The ESA said the satellite embodies many firsts in terms of its design and use of new technology to map Earth's gravity field in unprecedented detail.

"Over its lifetime of about 20 months, GOCE will map … global variations in the gravity field with extreme detail and accuracy," the ESA said. Such data are crucial for deriving accurate measurements of ocean circulation and sea-level change, both of which are affected by climate change, the space agency said.

The GOCE-derived data will also be used to understand more about processes occurring inside the Earth and for practical applications, such as surveying and leveling.