Photo: Airbus
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Biomass satellite, built by Airbus, has departed from Toulouse and is en route to Kourou, French Guiana, ahead of its scheduled launch. Biomass is an Earth Explorer satellite designed to measure forest biomass from an...
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The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Biomass satellite, built by Airbus, has departed from Toulouse and is en route to Kourou, French Guiana, ahead of its scheduled launch.
Biomass is an Earth Explorer satellite designed to measure forest biomass from an altitude of 666 km to assess global carbon stocks and fluxes. It will carry the first space-based P-band synthetic aperture radar, providing detailed maps of tropical, temperate, and boreal forests.
Alain Fauré, Head of Space Systems at Airbus Defence and Space, stated: “Shipping this flagship mission is a major milestone after years of hard work and dedication from all our teams. The satellite’s groundbreaking technology will enable climatologists to accurately assess carbon stocks and fluxes from space and improve the understanding of the part that forests play in regulating climate.”
The satellite features a 12-by-15-metre deployable antenna to collect radar data, allowing scientists to monitor changes in forest biomass, including losses from logging and burning, as well as regrowth—information that is not accessible through ground measurements.
Engineers from Airbus in Stevenage, where the satellite was built, led testing in Toulouse with support from teams in Friedrichshafen and across the industrial network. Over 50 companies from 20 countries contributed to the project. A separate team is overseeing the ground calibration transponder, which will be based in New Norcia, Australia.
Biomass is set to launch in April 2025 aboard a Vega-C rocket and is expected to operate for five years.
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