Engineers in Russia have sealed up the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer satellite inside its protective shell ahead of its September 10 launch. The next time the tenuously acronymed GOCE sees the sky it will be on the other side of it, looking down on us.

The European Space Agency says:

Over its lifetime of about 20 months, GOCE will map these global variations in the gravity field with extreme detail and accuracy. This will result in a unique model of the geoid, which is the surface of equal gravitational potential defined by the gravity field – crucial for deriving accurate measurements of ocean circulation and sea-level change, both of which are affected by climate change. GOCE-derived data is also much needed to understand more about processes occurring inside the Earth and for use in practical applications such as surveying and levelling.