Decryption – The first European satellite dedicated to the analysis of atmospheric carbon dioxide must be launched from Kourou, on the night of Friday to Saturday.
The Microcarb mission was started in 2015, the year of the Paris Agreement, when countries around the world agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emission in order to contain global warming below 2 ° C compared to the pre -industrial era. Ten years later, the first European satellite designed to map the sources and natural carbon dioxide (CO₂) atmospheric will finally be launched from the Guyanese space center in Kourou, on the night of Friday to Saturday (July 25 at 11:03 p.m. local time). The machine must be put in orbit by the European launcher Vega C, which will also take away four CO3D satellites dedicated to 3D map of the earth.
The small 180 kg satellite was developed by the National Center for Spatial Studies (CNES) in collaboration with Airbus Defense and Space, for a budget of 200 million euros (excluding launch). Microcarb’s goal: “Measure natural carbon flows”, explained in …