Mission Timeline

NASA plans to launch the Radiation Belt Space Probes (RBSP) spacecraft in 2011 for a prime mission of two years.

Several instruments will be integrated on a pair of APL-built, Sun-pointing spacecraft with a perigee altitude of approximately 500 kilometers (approximately 311 miles) and an apogee altitude of approximately 30,600 kilometers (approximately 19,014 miles). Inclination will be no greater than 18 degrees.

The two spacecraft will fly in nearly identical eccentric orbits that cover the entire radiation belt region, lapping each other several times over the course of the mission.