Odin two years in-orbit, staying alive and continuously tuned-in

Abstract Odin is a Swedish-led, scientific, three-axis stabilised, fine-pointing, small satellite that provides high-quality spectroscopy data in the optical, mm and submm regions. End-users are atmosphere and astronomy scientists in Canada, France, Finland and Sweden. The satellite had in February 2003 accomplished its design goal, two years lifetime in-orbit, and it continues to work well. Satellite parameters as well as operational procedures have been adjusted frequently during the lifetime of Odin. Operational changes and improvements cover almost all areas, like power management, data taking, cooler operation, thermal control, payload configuration and calibration, star tracker handling and, perhaps most important, attitude reference generation. The on-board flight software has on several occasions been updated. Some of the improvements were planned already before launch, while others are a consequence of adapting to gathered experience in-orbit. Today Odin has implemented sophisticated measurement strategies that either increases pointing accuracy or creates more efficient aeronomy research than originally planned for.