ESA showcases new Earth Explorer excellence

Three new satellite concepts are vying to be chosen as ESA’s seventh Earth Explorer mission. In preparation for selection next year, a seriesof reports has been published presenting the scientific and technical ambition of each mission.

Since the Biomass, CoReH2O and PREMIER mission concepts were selected for feasibility study in 2009, each candidate has been undergoing a set of rigorous activities to demonstrate their value to science and that they are technically viable.

The culmination of these efforts provides an important juncture at which to document their capabilities. Furthermore, the release of the three Reports for Mission Selection is timely in view of preparation for the ESA Ministerial Council in November, at which funding is sought to finance the development of the seventh Earth Explorer.

These three state-of-the-art candidates address gaps in our scientific knowledge of a number of dynamic, complex and interdependent Earth-system processes.

The institute IEK-7 substantially contributed to the definition of mission concept of PREMIER, a mission to observe atmospheric composition for a better understanding of chemistry-climate interactions.

The three Reports for Mission Selection are available under:

http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMUMJ8X73H_index_0.html