A French Space Agency (CNES) satellite named PARASOL has been moved into a new orbit after nearly five years in the Afternoon Constellation, NASA officials said. The Afternoon Constellation, or "A-Train," as it is commonly called, is a formation of satellites trailing within minutes of each other across the equator about 1:30 p.m. each day.

PARASOL's departure leaves Aqua, CloudSat, CALIPSO and Aura in the A-Train formation. These are all satellites that provide information about climate change and storms around the world, said Steve Platnick, a spokesman for the Goddard Space Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. PARASOL, which stands for Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Sciences, measures aerosols in the atmosphere. The satellite was moved into a new orbit last month about 2.4 miles under the A-Train. PARASOL's place in the A-Train is to be filled this year with the launch of a polarization spectrometer satellite named Glory, Platnick said in a release Monday.