| Jason-1 Celebrates Five Years in Orbit - Ocean Data Continues to Flow - December 2006 Jason-1 completes its 5th year on orbit on 7 December 2006. From its vantage point 1,330 kilometers (860 miles) above Earth, this follow-on to the highly successful TOPEX/Poseidon mission has provided measurements of the surface height of the world's oceans to an accuracy of 3.3 centimeters (1.3 inches). With this milestone, Jason-1 surpasses both its primary and extended mission phases and continues to collect valuable ocean data for researchers and operational users worldwide. Read the full story or check out the original launch images and videos.
Primary Mission Achieved: Jason launch 3rd anniversary, December 7, 2004  This month the Jason mission satellite completes its primary three-year mission to measure the surface height of the worlds' oceans. Launched in December 2001, Jason now begins an extended mission to continue collecting detailed sea-surface topography data. Read the full story or check out the original launch images and videos. See the CNES/AVISO tribute to Jason's success.
 Jason-1 is the first follow-on to the highly successful TOPEX/Poseidon mission that measured ocean surface topography to an accuracy of 4.2 cm, enabled scientists to forecast the 1997-1998 El Niño, and improved understanding of ocean circulation and its effect of global climate. The joint NASA-CNES program will launch a French spacecraft on an American Delta II from an American base. Like TOPEX/Poseidon, the payload will include both American and French instruments. Jason-1 altimeter data will be part of a suite of data provided by other JPL-managed ocean missions--the GRACE mission will use two satellites to accurately measure Earth's mass distribution, and the QuikSCAT scatterometer mission will measure ocean-surface winds.
News Jason-1 Launched One Year Ago
12/07/02  Jason-1 was launched 1 year ago, on 12/07/01 at 7:07AM from Vandenberg Air Force Base. See the NEW Jason-1 Launch Footage and some pre-launch interviews with Gary Kunstmann, Jason-1 Project Manager.
Where is it now? (07/22/02)
 Find out where Jason-1 is right now. To find out the best times to view it in your area, follow the directions on the Missions page.
Jason-1 Mission Status: JPL Takes Helm on Oceanography Mission
04/26/02
 Jason-1's oceanography mission to monitor global climate interactions between the sea and atmosphere reached another major milestone this week with the successful handover of day-to-day operations from the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
"Jason's measurement performance to date has been excellent," said Dr. Lee-Lueng Fu, Jason project scientist at JPL. "The early mission phases have been very smooth. This success is due in large part to the hard work and outstanding cooperation between the U.S. and French teams, who continue to work together to leverage experience and efficiencies gleaned from a decade of joint Topex/Poseidon operations. We look forward to continuing to work with the French to establish routine mission operations." Read the full story. Jason-1 Releases First Data
02/28/02  With the initiation of its operations phase, Jason has begun to generate its first science products on its mission to monitor global climate interactions between the sea and the atmosphere. Initial maps of sea-level anomalies, significant wave height and ocean wind speed confirm the health of the spacecraft science instruments and the mission's ability to meet its data turnaround requirements. "Our first assessments show a surprising level of accuracy, exceeding that of Jason's predecessor, Topex/Poseidon," said Dr. Lee-Lueng Fu, Jason project scientist at JPL. Read the full story. Jason-1 Mission Status
02/20/02 Cycle 4 of mission operations and data collection is continuing on schedule. The satellite and sensors are operating well and the Jason-1 Ground System is green. All stored mission data has been successfully received on the ground, and daily data products are currently being generated. 02/08/02 - Cycle 3 of science data collection is continuing on schedule. The satellite and sensors are operating well, and the Jason-1 ground system is green. All mission data has been successfully received by the ground station network. 02/06/02 - Cycle 3 of science data collection is continuing on schedule. The satellite and sensors are operating well, and the Jason-1 ground system is green. All mission data has been successfully received by the ground station network. A Poker Flat tracking station proficiency test was conducted at 10:30 am PST today. Data reception at low rate was successfully demonstrated. Jason-1 Mission Status
01/11/02  The joint NASA/French Space Agency oceanography satellite Jason-1 has reached its operational orbit and begun six months of instrument calibrations with its sister spacecraft, TOPEX/Poseidon. Jason-1 is now approximately one minute (approximately 370 kilometers or 230 miles) ahead of the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite, on an identical ground track. "Jason-1 has begun observations of the same spot of the ocean surface as TOPEX/Poseidon under nearly identical conditions," said Dr. Lee-Lueng Fu, Jason 1 project scientist at JPL. "These unprecedented observations will allow mission scientists to calibrate and validate the new measurements from Jason-1 with those of TOPEX/Poseidon. The combined data records will enable us to study long-term changes in the ocean and their effects on climate." Read the full story.
SUCCESS!! Jason-1 was successfully launched on December 7, 2001. Go to the Jason-1 launch page for more information and images.
Mission Objectives
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