EuCROPIS

Eu:CROPIS
Render of the Eu:CROPIS satellite after launch
Mission typeLife sciences research
OperatorGerman Aerospace Center
COSPAR ID2018-099BB
SATCAT no.43807
Mission durationPlanned: 1 year
Final: 1 year and 28 days
Spacecraft properties
BusDLR Compact Satellite bus
ManufacturerDLR
Launch mass250 kg (550 lb)
Dimensions1.0 m diameter x 1.13 m length
with panels deployed: 2.88 m wide
Power520 W, 4 solar arrays, Li-ion batteries
Start of mission
Launch date3 December 2018
RocketFalcon 9 (Block 5)
Launch siteVandenberg Air Force Base
ContractorSpaceX
End of mission
DisposalEnd of Mission 31 December 2019
Deactivated31 December 2022
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric
RegimeLow Earth (SSO)
Perigee altitude575 km (357 mi)
Inclination98°
Period10 h
EpochPlanned
Transponders
BandS band

Eu:CROPIS (Euglena and Combined Regenerative Organic-Food Production in Space) was a life science satellite developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and intended to investigate the possibility of growing plants (specifically tomatoes) in different levels of gravity, such as that of the Moon and Mars, as a sustainable food source using human urine for moisture and as the source of fixed nitrogen.