Insight 43 - Magazine - Page 28
STEVENAGE BUILT SATELLITE
GETTING READY FOR LAUNCH
S
tevenage built Biomass, the
European Space Agency’s (ESA)
Airbus-built satellite, is getting
ready for a launch in Kourou, French
Guiana.
An Earth Explorer satellite, Biomass is
ESA's flagship mission to measure forest
biomass to assess terrestrial carbon
stocks and fluxes from an altitude of
666km above the Earth. The spacecraft
will carry the first space-borne P-band
synthetic aperture radar, delivering
exceptionally accurate maps of tropical,
temperate and boreal forest biomass.
Alain Fauré, Head of Space Systems at
Airbus Defence and Space said: “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 spacecraft features a large 12x15
metre deployable antenna to capture
the reflected SAR data that will be used
to provide accurate global maps of
tropical, temperate, and boreal forest
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biomass. Data on changes in biomass
due to forest loss (for example from
logging/burning) and regrowth is
unattainable by ground measurement
techniques.
Airbus engineers from Stevenage
led the successful test campaign in
bIZ4BIZ INSIGHT MAGAZINE | APRIL 2025
Toulouse, supported by colleagues on
site and from Airbus in Friedrichshafen
(Germany), plus the wider industrial
team.
Biomass is scheduled to launch in April
2025 on a Vega-C rocket from Kourou
and will operate in orbit for five years.
