The Earth Observing System (or EOS) Aqua spacecraft was launched into a polar sun synchronous orbit on 4 May 2002. The AIRS instrument suite is one of several instrument systems onboard Aqua (Parkinson, 2003).

Aqua orbit

• Orbit period is 98.8 minutes. The spacecraft equatorial crossing local times are 1:30 in the morning (descending, or southward moving) and 1:30 in the afternoon (ascending).
• Repeat cycle period is 233 orbits (16 days) with a ground track repeatability of +/− 20 km.
• Nominal orbital altitude is 705 km, with an inclination 98. 20° relative to the equatorial plane when viewed from the direction of the sun

Operations timeline

The Aqua spacecraft is expected to remain in normal operations until late 2022, at which time it will be begin drifting to a later local time. Sometime after 2025 the Aqua will be deliberately de-orbited to minimize the risk of falling debris.

Aqua orbital track information

 http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/datacenter/aqua/

Aqua overpass predictions

https://oceandata.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/overpass_pred