ESA Launches Advanced Satellite to Track Forest Carbon Stocks

2025-04-30 green

Frascati, Wednesday, 30 April 2025.
The European Space Agency’s new Biomass satellite provides crucial data on global forest carbon storage, enhancing climate change research with its pioneering P-band radar technology.

Successful Launch and Deployment

The European Space Agency achieved a significant milestone on April 29, 2025, when the Biomass satellite successfully launched at 11:15 CEST from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana [1]. The spacecraft separated from the Vega-C rocket’s upper stage 57 minutes after launch, with the first signal confirmation received at 12:28 CEST via the Troll ground station in Antarctica [2]. This marks Arianespace’s 353rd launch and their fourth Vega-C mission [3].

Revolutionary Forest Monitoring Technology

The Biomass satellite represents a technological breakthrough as it carries the first P-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) ever deployed in space [4]. The satellite features a massive 12-meter-wide mesh reflector supported by a 7.5-meter boom [2]. Operating at a wavelength of approximately 70 centimeters, the radar can penetrate through forest canopies, enabling unprecedented measurement of forest structure and biomass [5]. This capability is crucial given that tropical forests account for 75% of global CO2 absorption [6].

Mission Objectives and Impact

With a planned operational lifetime of five years, Biomass will monitor at least eight growth cycles in the world’s forests [7]. The mission, costing approximately 400 million euros, aims to reduce uncertainties in carbon stock calculations and enhance our understanding of forest degradation’s impact on climate change [7]. Simonetta Cheli, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, emphasized that the mission will ‘gain vital new data on how much carbon is stored in the world’s forests, helping to fill key gaps in our knowledge of the carbon cycle’ [2].

Technical Specifications and Orbital Parameters

The satellite, weighing 1,170 kilograms, will operate in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 666 kilometers [7]. Manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space in the UK with assembly by SENER in Spain [7], the spacecraft will not only monitor forest biomass but also contribute to mapping subsurface geology in deserts and understanding ice sheet structures [5]. The mission represents the 146th spacecraft built by Airbus Defence and Space to be launched by Arianespace [3].

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carbon monitoring satellite launch