Poseidon 2, the new generation altimeter for JASON mission

Poseidon 2 is the new spaceborne altimeter designed to follow the successful TOPEX Poseidon altimetry mission. The follow-on mission JASON is under preparation and is planned to be operational in early 2000. Alcatel Space Industrie, under CNES contract, completes the engineering and qualification model and 2 flight models. This paper provides a brief overview of the instrument and describes the results obtained during the flight model ground tests. Hardware, new subsystem characteristics and primary performance results are presented.