Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 20, 2026

SIMBA (satellite)

SIMBA was a climatology satellite mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) in the form of a 3U CubeSat. Its goal was to help quantify how much heat from the Sun is being retained within Earth atmosphere. For this, SIMBA measured Earth's radiation budget and total solar irradiance using a miniaturized radiometer instrument. The satellite was launched in September 2020 aboard a Vega rocket and remained operational until December 2022. It deorbited in August 2024.

Last revised
Jul 20, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
291 w
Citations
12
Source
Wikipedia ↗
SIMBA
Mission typeClimatology
OperatorESA
COSPAR ID2020-061H
SATCAT no.46279Edit this on Wikidata
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type3U CubeSat
ManufacturerInnovative Solutions In Space (Delft, Netherlands), KU Leuven, Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium
Start of mission
Launch date3 September 2020, 01:51:10 UTC
RocketVega, flight VV16
Launch siteGuiana Space Centre
End of mission
Declared31 December 2022
Decay date14 August 2024
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeSun-synchronous
Altitude530 km
Inclination97.51 deg

SIMBA (Sun-earth IMBAlance) was a climatology satellite mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) in the form of a 3U CubeSat.123 Its goal was to help quantify how much heat from the Sun is being retained within Earth atmosphere. For this, SIMBA measured Earth's radiation budget and total solar irradiance using a miniaturized radiometer instrument.45 The satellite was launched in September 2020 aboard a Vega rocket and remained operational until December 2022.6789 It deorbited in August 2024.101112

See also

See also

References

References

  1. "SIMBA (Sun-earth IMBAlance) - eoPortal". www.eoportal.org. Archived from the original on 2024-12-18. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  2. Kulu, Erik. "SIMBA". Nanosats Database. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  3. "SIMBA". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  4. SIMBA: Measuring the Earth’s Radiation (Im)balance
  5. "Simba CubeSat to swivel from Earth to Sun to help track climate change". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  6. Andreia (2020-08-21). "SIMBA, DIDO-3, NAPA-1, three CubeSats built by ISISPACE to launch on Vega VV16 - ISISPACE". Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  7. "SIMBA Satellite Mission Summary | CEOS Database". database.eohandbook.com. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  8. "Les CubeSats belges Picasso et Simba vont surveiller la Terre". DAILY SCIENCE (in French). 2020-06-19. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  9. "Two Belgian CubeSats launched successfully | Belgian Platform on Earth Observation". eo.belspo.be. Archived from the original on 2025-04-24. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  10. "Technical details for satellite SIMBA". N2YO.com - Real Time Satellite Tracking and Predictions. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  11. "SIMBA / 46279 / 2020-061H". orbit.ing-now.com. Retrieved 2025-10-12.
  12. "2020 - Satellite & Spacecraft Launches and Detailed Orbits". www.orbitalfocus.uk. Retrieved 2025-10-12.