JASON 1: lessons learned from the development and 1 year in orbit

The JASON-1 small satellite was launched in December 2001 and has performed successfully since then, with in-flight performances exceeding expectations. The JASON-1 mission is dedicated to ocean and climate forecasting, in continuation with the successful TOPEX-POSEIDON satellite, launched in 1992. This project is in cooperation between NASA and CNES. JASON-1 is the first satellite based on the small PROTEUS bus, a cooperative partnership between CNES and ALCATEL Space Industries. This project was initiated in 1993 and in 1996 entered its developmental phase. At that time, the Faster, Better, Cheaper guidelines were driving the decisions and thus strong budgetary and schedule constraints were placed on the project while keeping ambitious technical performances. After more than 1 year of Jason operations in orbit, this paper gives a synthetic view of the major project achievement with respect to the initial requirements with a focus on advantages and drawbacks of a fast-paced development and qualification.