The US$45 million SAC-C mission is led by CONAE, Argentina’s space agency, with NASA and the space agencies of Denmark, Italy, Spain, France, and Brazil. INVAP is the prime contractor for the design and construction of the SAC-C spacecraft and its main payload, a Multispectral Medium Resolution Scanner as well as a High Sensitivity Medium Resolution Camera.

The 425 kg (937 lbm) satellite will provide data for the study of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, atmospheric temperature and water vapor monitoring. SAC-C will determine variability in the ionosphere structure, providing space observatory quality measurements of the geomagnetic field and measurements of the long wavelength component of the gravitational field. The satellite will also update low orbit space radiation environment models. The spacecraft’s launch configuration was 2.1 x 1.9 x 1.7 m (6.8 x 6.1 x 5.4 ft).