Eureca satellite in orbit. Artwork of the European Retrievable Carrier (Eureca) satellite. Eureca was designed for orbital missions of up to one year, after which it can be retrieved by a Shuttle and returned to Earth. It then has the possibility of being redeployed for further missions. It was initially deployed by Shuttle Atlantis on 1 August 1992 during Mission STS-46, and retrieved during Mission STS-57 in April 1993. It carries a 1000 kilogram payload and measures 20 metres across.