On Friday 31 July, the European Space Agency announced that it had signed a contract with OHB System AG to build two satellites worth €445 million for the Copernicus mission to monitor carbon dioxide (CO2M). OHB will be prime contractor for the project and Thales Alenia Space will provide the CO2M payload.
Josef Aschbacher, the Director of Earth Observation Programmes at the ESA, told EUROPE that the two satellites are scheduled for delivery before 2025 so that they can be operational in 2026. He stated that contracts for five pairs of Copernicus satellites should be signed by September.
However, Aschbacher shared his concerns about the budget cuts to the European Union’s space programme that were considered at the last European summit (see EUROPE 12533/6 and 12535/2) and which could have implications for the development of future satellites, causing them either to be postponed or cancelled. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)