Photo: Airbus
The Airbus-built Biomass satellite, a flagship Earth Explorer mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), has been successfully launched into orbit aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite is now in a 666-kilometre sun-synchronous...
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The Airbus-built Biomass satellite, a flagship Earth Explorer mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), has been successfully launched into orbit aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite is now in a 666-kilometre sun-synchronous orbit, ready to begin its five-year mission to monitor the world’s forests and contribute to global climate science.
Equipped with the first space-based P-band synthetic aperture radar, Biomass is designed to deliver high-resolution maps of tropical, temperate, and boreal forest biomass. The mission aims to improve understanding of terrestrial carbon stocks and fluxes, offering critical insights into the global carbon cycle and the role forests play in regulating climate.
“Biomass will give scientists and climatologists unprecedented data on the state of the world’s forests, further enhancing the understanding of the climate cycle. The spacecraft is now safely in orbit and ready to deliver its precious data,” said Alain Fauré, Head of Space Systems at Airbus Defence and Space.
Beyond forest monitoring, the satellite will also support the study of ice sheet dynamics, subsurface geology, and forest topography. Its radar system can penetrate forest canopies, providing improved Digital Elevation Models in densely vegetated regions and enabling detection of changes in biomass from deforestation, degradation, or regrowth. It is also expected to contribute to the identification of ancient aquifers in desert areas, offering potential support for water resource discovery in arid regions.
The satellite features a 12-metre deployable radar antenna designed to collect reflected P-band SAR data. Airbus developed, built, and tested Biomass at its facilities in Stevenage (UK), Friedrichshafen (Germany), and Toulouse (France), before the satellite was shipped to the launch site in February 2025.
More than 50 companies from 20 countries contributed to the development and testing of the satellite. Ground segment support includes a calibration transponder station located in New Norcia, Australia.
The mission will also play a key role in supporting REDD+, a UN climate change initiative focused on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. With its ability to systematically monitor forest biomass without requiring on-the-ground intervention, Biomass is expected to enhance transparency and accountability in global forest carbon assessments.
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