Full steam ahead for carbon dioxide monitoring mission

The race is on to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we pump into the atmosphere to achieve the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. However, understanding that targets are being met is also a priority – and the best way of doing this is with support from measurements from space.

ESA, the European Commission, Eumetsat and industrial partners are therefore working extremely hard to get the Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring (CO2M) mission ready for liftoff.

CO2M is one of six Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions that ESA is developing on behalf of the EU. These high-priority missions will address EU policy and gaps in Copernicus user needs, expanding the current capabilities of the Copernicus programme – the world’s biggest supplier of Earth observation data.

Now with the supplementary contract also signed, it is full steam ahead for two CO2M satellites. The contract was signed by Simonetta Cheli, ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, and Wolfgang Paetsch, Member OHB’s Management Board.

Simonetta Cheli, said, “I am delighted that we are at this contract rider ceremony with OHB, the prime contractor for the Copernicus CO2M mission, and I look forward to the successful implementation of this important mission together with our partners the European Commission and Eumetsat.

“With Europe’s Green Deal objectives and the decarbonising Europe by 2050, the pressure is on to drastically cut the amount of greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere. Once launched, the CO2M will be the first mission to monitor anthropogenic carbon emissions and will support the global stocktake in the context of the implementation of COP21 Agreements and the Glasgow Climate Pact of COP26.

“CO2M will provide a unique and independent source of information to assess the effectiveness of these policy measures and to track their impact towards decarbonisation. Nations throughout the world will be able to assess and compare with transparency how they are meeting their targets.”

The two CO2M satellites will each carry a near-infrared and shortwave-infrared spectrometer to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide at high spatial resolution. These measurements will be used by the new CO2M Monitoring and Verification Support Capacity, which the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts is developing, and which will eventually reduce uncertainties in estimates of emissions of carbon dioxide from the combustion of fossil fuel at local, national and regional scales.

The two CO2M satellites are scheduled to be launched sequentially in 2026 and are qualified to operate as a constellation for 7.5 years in orbit, with fuel to extend their life to 12 years.

Much progress has been made with this challenging mission over the last two years since the original contract was signed. For example, late last year the structural model of the satellite was tested at ESA’s facilities in the Netherlands to make sure that it is sufficiently rigid and will survive the vibrations of launch. More recently, in March, the mission’s Space Segment Preliminary Design Review was completed as was the Critical Design Review of the structure, which authorised the manufacture of some structural parts.

However, there is still much to do. Valerie Fernandez, ESA’s CO2M Project Manager, said, “It’s great news that this new contract is signed and we look forward to further working hand-in-hand with OHB and their consortium to get this important satellite mission ready for launch so that it can start returning the essential data that is needed to map greenhouse gas emissions from space.”