Thales Alenia Space, joint venture of Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), announces that Microcarb, joint scientific mission between the British (UKSA) and French (CNES) space agencies, has been successfully launched since Kourou.
The satellite is designed to precisely measure the CO2 rate in the earth’s atmosphere, and map the flows between the different sources of anthropogenic emissions and the natural carbon wells such as oceans and forests.
As part of this project, Thales Alenia Space specifies that it has carried out the AI phase (assembly, integration and test) of the satellite platform within the Harwell space pole, in England, and have managed the preparations for the launch.
Microcarb will operate in low orbit at an altitude of 650 km and will serve as a precursor to the CO2M mission of the European Union – a constellation of three satellites equipped with useful charges provided by Thales Alenia Space.
It will complete the CO2M mission by providing observation data upstream and other useful information to better monitor greenhouse gases (GHG) and support the decision -making process in terms of climate policy.