NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) observatory spacecraft arrived at the Astrotech Space Operations facility near the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.

Technicians and engineers from NASA monitored the spacecraft as it was uncrated and hoisted by a crane. They then prepared ground equipment for offloading and processing before fueling and final encapsulation.

PACE is set to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in early 2024 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The mission aims to clarify how the ocean and atmosphere exchange carbon dioxide, improve upon NASA’s 20-plus years of global satellite observations of ocean biology and atmospheric aerosols, and continue key measurements related to air quality and climate.

The PACE project is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, while the agency’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center is responsible for managing launch service for the mission. The content of this article has been reviewed according to Science X’s editorial process and policies