The Envisat satellite and its integration

For the early years of this new millennium, Envisat is ESA's major contribu tion to the study of the Earth as a system. Carrying ten sophisticated inst ruments-both optical and radar-it is the largest and most complex satellite ever built in Europe. It has been designed and tested over a period of mor e than 10 years. Much of the integration and test programme was conducted o n site at ESTEC, in Noordwijk (NL). It will be the first satellite launched into a polar orbit by Ariane-5. This article summarises; the design and engineering of Envisat, and explain s the model philosophy and test approaches used. The launch campaign plans are also briefly described.