The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Envisat" id="mwAYc" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Envisat">Envisat</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_satellite" id="mwAYg" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Environmental satellite">environmental satellite</a> successfully launches aboard an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariane_5#List_of_launches" id="mwAYk" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Ariane 5">Ariane 5 rocket</a> to reach an orbit of <span about="#mwt85" data-mw='{"parts":[{"template":{"target":{"wt":"convert","href":"./Template:Convert"},"params":{"1":{"wt":"800"},"2":{"wt":"km"},"3":{"wt":"mi"},"sp":{"wt":"us"},"abbr":{"wt":"on"}},"i":0}}]}' id="mwAYo" typeof="mw:Transclusion">800</span><span about="#mwt85" typeof="mw:Entity"> </span><span about="#mwt85">km (500</span><span about="#mwt85" typeof="mw:Entity"> </span><span about="#mwt85">mi)</span> above the Earth, which was the then-largest <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payload_(air_and_space_craft)" id="mwAYs" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Payload (air and space craft)">payload</a> at 10.5 m long and with a diameter of 4.57 m.<sup about="#mwt89" class="mw-ref reference" data-mw='{"name":"ref","attrs":{},"body":{"id":"mw-reference-text-cite_note-15"}}' id="cite_ref-15" rel="dc:references" typeof="mw:Extension/ref"><a href="./March_1#cite_note-15" id="mwAYw" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 15;"><span class="mw-reflink-text" id="mwAY0">[15]</span></a></sup>
<span class="mw-reference-text" id="mw-reference-text-cite_note-15"><cite about="#mwt86" class="citation web cs1" id="mwB04"><a class="external text" href="https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/e/envisat" id="mwB08" rel="mw:ExtLink nofollow">"EnviSat (Environmental Satellite)"</a>. <i id="mwB1A">eoPortal</i>. <a class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200731003313/https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/e/envisat" id="mwB1E" rel="mw:ExtLink nofollow">Archived</a> from the original on 2020-07-31<span class="reference-accessdate" id="mwB1I">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap" id="mwB1M">2020-03-02</span></span>.</cite><span about="#mwt86" class="Z3988" id="mwB1Q" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&amp;rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&amp;rft.genre=unknown&amp;rft.jtitle=eoPortal&amp;rft.atitle=EnviSat+%28Environmental+Satellite%29&amp;rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fdirectory.eoportal.org%2Fweb%2Feoportal%2Fsatellite-missions%2Fe%2Fenvisat&amp;rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AMarch+1"></span></span>