CloudSat at 11— Now What?

The CloudSat mission recently completed eleven years of on-orbit operations,
providing unique radar profiles of the vertical structure of clouds. CloudSat is a
member of the A-Train, an international constellation of Earth-science satellites
at 705 km altitude with an ascending node at 1:30 PM local time. Five years
into the mission, the CloudSat spacecraft survived a near-death experience when
its battery developed a current-limiting impedance restriction. Dramatic changes
were made to the operations of the spacecraft, allowing the mission to continue
providing unique weather- and climate-related data on clouds. While several more
years of operations are possible, a number of challenges still exist. We discuss the
science, the history, and options for the future of CloudSat.