Since September 15, 2002, Topex/Poseidon has been on a new orbit, midway between its original ground tracks, now occupied by Jason-1. Paired operation of these two dedicated satellites with the same design, cross-calibrated, yields data every 10 days, acquired from parallel orbits 158 kilometers apart at the equator. The two satellites deliver equivalent performance and their orbits are synchronous, which give us a much better spatial resolution.

This scientific tandem shows the possibilities of a constellation of optimized altimetric satellites.