![]() ESA Biomass satellite rendering | |
Mission type | Earth observation satellite |
---|---|
Operator | ESA |
COSPAR ID | 2025-090A |
SATCAT no. | 63774 ![]() |
Website | https://www.esa.int/Applications |
Mission duration | 5 years (planned) 2 months, 4 days (in progress) |
Spacecraft properties | |
Bus | Astrobus |
Manufacturer | Airbus Defence and Space (UK) |
Launch mass | 1,170 kilograms (2,580 lb) |
Power | 1500 watts |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 29 April 2025, 06:15:00 UTC |
Rocket | Vega C |
Launch site | Kourou ELV |
Contractor | Arianespace |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Sun-synchronous |
Altitude | 660 km |
Biomass is an Earth observing satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA) launched in 2025. The mission is intended to provide the first comprehensive measurements of global forest biomass and is expected to significantly improve the understanding of carbon storage, forest health, and temporal changes of forest ecosystems. [1] It is meant to last for five years, monitoring at least eight growth cycles in the world’s forests. [2]
The Biomass satellite is part of ESA's Living Planet Programme, which consists of Earth observation missions. [3] [4] Its initial launch date was set to 2020, but that was later delayed to 2025. [5]
The entire cost of the mission was placed at around 400 million euros. The main scientific instrument aboard Biomass is a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) operating at 435 MHz. [6] The satellite measures 10 x 12 x 20 m, weighs around 1.2 tonnes and orbits the Earth at an altitude of 666 km. [7] [8] [9] [10]
All devices for assembly of the satellite structure, including vertical transport equipment, assembly and disassembly of satellite panels, assembly and disassembly of the synthetic aperture radar are done by the Spanish company SENER. [9]
Biomass is equipped with a P-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR), built in Friedrichshafen, Germany [11] and a large 12-m deployable antenna supplied by L3Harris. [12] The Feed Array of the SAR antenna is provided by Thales Alenia Space, Italy. [13]
The radar is used to observe forests between 75° north and 56° south, but doesn't cover North and Central America, Europe, and parts of the Arctic to avoid interfering with the US Department of Defense space object tracking radars. [14] [15]
To calibrate the spacecraft's radar, ESA has installed a custom-built transponder (Biomass Calibration Transponder; BCT) at New Norcia Station in Australia. BCT is being used intensively during the spacecraft's six-month commissioning period and then will be used two times a year during regular operations. [16]
The main objective of the mission is to measure forest biomass in order to assess terrestrial carbon stocks and fluxes and better understand the planet's carbon cycle. [3] The Biomass mission will explore Earth's surface at the P-band wavelength, the first time this technique is used from orbit. This will allow it to provide accurate maps of tropical, temperate and boreal forest biomass that are not obtainable by ground measurement techniques. [11] [17] [18] The amount of biomass and forest height will be measured at a resolution of 200 m, and forest disturbances such as clear-cutting at a resolution of 50 m. [19] [20]
Its stated objectives are: [21]
It is expected that the data sent back from the satellite will also contribute new information to other areas of climate science, like measuring the biomass of desert regions to find fossil water and new water sources in arid regions as well as contributing to observations of ice sheet dynamics, subsurface geology and forest topography. [11]
Examples of images produced from Biomass data: