On Thursday 4 April, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced that its new Arctic weather satellite would be launched in June.
According to Simonetta Cheli, Director of Earth Observation Programmes at the ESA, this satellite will enable immediate forecasting in the Arctic for the first time, to the benefit of weather and climate change forecasting on a global scale.
In a press release, ESA explained that it can take up to 24 hours for satellites returning data over the poles to achieve global coverage, which limits the data available for short-term weather forecasting around the world.
The satellite, which weighs 120 kg and is 5.3 metres long with its wings extended, was designed in 3 years by the Swedish aerospace company OHB. It will have a lifespan of around 25 years.
The satellite is currently in the final stages of verification and preparation for shipment by air to Space X’s launch site in California, according to the space agency.
It is the precursor of a potential satellite constellation called EPS-Sterna, of six microsatellites spread over three orbital planes to provide an almost constant stream of temperature and humidity data from anywhere on Earth, according to ESA. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)