Envisat is a large inactive Earth-observing satellite which is still in orbit and now considered a space debris. Operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), it was the world's largest civilian Earth observation satellite.
Vega is an expendable launch system in use by Arianespace jointly developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Development began in 1998 and the first launch took place from the Centre Spatial Guyanais on 13 February 2012.
The Swedish Institute of Space Physics is a Swedish government agency. The institute's primary task is to carry out basic research, education and associated observatory activities in space physics, space technology and atmospheric physics.
The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) is an intergovernmental organisation created through an international convention agreed by a current total of 30 European Member States.
Within the atmospheric sciences, atmospheric physics is the application of physics to the study of the atmosphere. Atmospheric physicists attempt to model Earth's atmosphere and the atmospheres of the other planets using fluid flow equations, chemical models, radiation budget, and energy transfer processes in the atmosphere. In order to model weather systems, atmospheric physicists employ elements of scattering theory, wave propagation models, cloud physics, statistical mechanics and spatial statistics which are highly mathematical and related to physics. It has close links to meteorology and climatology and also covers the design and construction of instruments for studying the atmosphere and the interpretation of the data they provide, including remote sensing instruments. At the dawn of the space age and the introduction of sounding rockets, aeronomy became a subdiscipline concerning the upper layers of the atmosphere, where dissociation and ionization are important.
Aeolus, or, in full, Atmospheric Dynamics Mission-Aeolus (ADM-Aeolus), is an Earth observation satellite operated by the European Space Agency (ESA). It was built by Airbus Defence and Space and launched on 22 August 2018. ADM-Aeolus is the first satellite with equipment capable of performing global wind-component-profile observation and will provide much-needed information to improve weather forecasting. Aeolus is the first satellite capable of observing what the winds are doing on Earth, from the surface of the planet and into the stratosphere 30 km high.
Odin is a Swedish satellite working in two disciplines: astrophysics and aeronomy, and it was named after Odin of Norse mythology. Within the field of astrophysics, Odin was used until the spring of 2007 aiding in the study of star formation. Odin is still used for aeronomical observations, including exploration of the depletion of the ozone layer and effects of global warming. In February 2019 it celebrated 18 years in Earth orbit, and was still functioning nominally.
PROBA, renamed PROBA-1, is a Belgian satellite launched atop an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle by ISRO on 22 October 2001. The satellite was funded through the ESA's MicroSat program. This small boxlike system, with solar panel collectors on its surface, has remarkable image-making qualities. It hosts two Earth Observation instruments dubbed CHRIS and HRC. CHRIS is a hyperspectral system that images at 17 m resolution, while HRC is a monochromatic camera that images visible light at 5 m resolution.
The FLuorescence EXplorer (FLEX) is a planned mission by the European Space Agency to launch a satellite to monitor the global steady-state chlorophyll fluorescence in terrestrial vegetation. FLEX was selected for funding on 19 November 2015 and will be launched on a Vega C rocket from Guiana Space Centre in mid-2025.
Copernicus is the European Union's Earth observation programme coordinated and managed by the European Commission in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA), the EU Member States and EU agencies.
PROBA-2 is the second satellite in the European Space Agency's series of PROBA low-cost satellites that are being used to validate new spacecraft technologies while also carrying scientific instruments. PROBA-2 is a small satellite (130 kg) developed under an ESA General Support Technology Program (GSTP) contract by a Belgian consortium led by Verhaert of Kruibeke, Belgium. The nominal mission duration was two years. As of 2019, the mission continues.
The Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) is a Belgian federal scientific research institute. Created in 1964, its main tasks are research and public service in space aeronomy, which is the physics and chemistry of the atmosphere of the Earth and other planets, and of outer space. The scientists rely on ground-based, balloon-, air- or space-borne instruments and computer models.
Sentinel-3 is an Earth observation satellite series developed by the European Space Agency as part of the Copernicus Programme. It currently consists of 2 satellites: Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B. After initial commissioning, each satellite was handed over to EUMETSAT for the routine operations phase of the mission. Two recurrent satellites— Sentinel-3C and Sentinel-3D— will follow in approximately 2024 and 2028 respectively to ensure continuity of the Sentinel-3 mission.
The Living Planet Programme (LPP) is a programme within the European Space Agency which is managed by the Earth Observation Programmes Directorate. LPP consists of two classes of Earth observation missions including research missions known as Earth Explorers, and the Earth Watch class of missions whose objective is to develop support operational applications such as numerical weather forecasting or resource management.
LYRA is the solar UV radiometer on board Proba-2, a European Space Agency technology demonstration satellite that was launched on November 2, 2009.
Proba-3 is a technological demonstration mission by the European Space Agency devoted to high precision formation flying to achieve scientific coronagraphy. It is part of the series of PROBA satellites that are being used to validate new spacecraft technologies and concepts while also carrying scientific instruments.
PROBA-V, or PROBA-Vegetation, is a satellite in the European Space Agency's PROBA series. It was launched in 2013 with a predicted usable lifetime between 2.5 and 5 years.
SAGE III on ISS is the fourth generation of a series of NASA Earth-observing instruments, known as the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment. The first SAGE III instrument was launched on a Russian Meteor-3M satellite. The recently revised SAGE III was mounted to the International Space Station where it uses the unique vantage point of ISS to make long-term measurements of ozone, aerosols, water vapor, and other gases in Earth's atmosphere.
