Abstract
The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer mission GOCE was successfully launched on the 17 th of March 2009 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on a Rockot launch vehicle and is since controlled from ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. The spacecraft is the first Earth Explorer Core Mission of the ESA Living Planet Program and its main objective is to obtain detailed measurements of the Earth's gravitational field to an unprecedented accuracy. The purpose of this paper is to report on the experiences of operating such an unique spacecraft from a flight dynamics point of view with an emphasis on the orbital aspects of the mission during the different phases of the mission (LEOP, commissioning, routine phases, and contingencies).
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