# GRACE
*missions*

## Specifications
- **operator**: nasa
- **actual launch**: 2002-03-17
- **actual end of life**: 2017-10-12
- **current status**: ended
- **orbit type**: Twin near-polar low Earth orbiters separated by about 220 km
- **tasking supported**: false
- **archive depth years**: 15
- **current geographic priority**: Global
- **entity type**: mission
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-08
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: nasa
- **attributes**: {"operator":"nasa","actual_launch":"2002-03-17","actual_end_of_life":"2017-10-12","current_status":"ended","orbit_type":"Twin near-polar low Earth orbiters separated by about 220 km","tasking_supported":false,"archive_depth_years":15,"current_geographic_priority":"Global"}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) was a joint NASA and DLR gravity mission launched on 17 March 2002 [^jpl-grace][^podaac-grace]. It flew two spacecraft in tandem around Earth and measured changes in their separation with microwave K-band ranging, GPS receivers, and onboard accelerometers to derive changes in Earth's gravity field [^podaac-grace]. The science mission ended on 12 October 2017 after more than 15 years of operations [^podaac-grace][^jpl-grace-end]. GRACE observations support monthly mass-change products used for ice sheets, terrestrial water storage, ocean mass, groundwater, and solid-Earth studies [^podaac-grace].

## Compositional position
- GRACE --[mission_payloads]--> kbr (products)
- GRACE --[mission_payloads]--> superstar-accelerometer (products)
- GRACE --[data_products_from_missions]--> jpl-grace-grace-fo-mascon-rl06m (data_products)
- champ (missions) --[successor]--> GRACE
- jpl-grace-mascon-rl06-processing-chain (standards) --[related]--> GRACE

## Sources
- [jpl-grace] | GRACE mission, NASA JPL | https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/gravity-recovery-and-climate-experiment-grace/ | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-08
- [podaac-grace] | Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, PO.DAAC | https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/GRACE | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-08
- [jpl-grace-end] | Prolific Earth Gravity Satellites End Science Mission, NASA JPL | https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/prolific-earth-gravity-satellites-end-science-mission/ | tier=operator-press | accessed=2026-06-08 | published=2017-10-27

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/missions/grace
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)