Facts & Figures
Launch: 2023
Launcher: Vega from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana
Satellite: Three-axis stabilised platform, 10 m high, 12 m wide and 20 m long (including large antenna)
Mass: 1170 kg (including 67 kg fuel)
Instrument: Fully polarimetric P-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument operating at 435 MHz frequency
Power: 1.5 kW deployable solar array with 6.8 m2 triple junction GaAs cells; 144 Ah Li-ion battery
Orbit: Sun-synchronous, at altitude of 666 km inclined at 98 degrees, 3-day repeat cycle
Life: Minimum of 5.5 years
Communication: Science data transmitted to Kiruna (Sweden) via X-band downlink. Tracking, telemetry and command transmitted via S-band uplink and downlink
Mission control: ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt (Germany)
Data processing: ESA’s Centre for Earth Observation (ESRIN), in Frascati (Italy)
Scientific objectives: Deliver the first global and systematic measurements of forest height and biomass
Project and commissioning: Managed at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk (the Netherlands)
Prime contractor: Airbus Defence and Space (UK)