The primary objective of the TanSat mission is to recover the CO₂ column-averaged dry-air mole. The project should improve knowledge about the global CO₂ distribution and how it contributes to climate change. The mission is also intended to monitor the CO₂ variation on seasonal time scales.

The mission supports four main research topics:

• Measurements of CO₂ near-infrared absorption, throughout a high-resolution Carbon Dioxide Spectrometer
• Cloud and aerosol high-resolution measurement, that are used to compensate the CO₂ measurement errors
• Capability to perform scientific observations in multiple ways, thanks to the two instruments (ACGS and CAPI) carried by the TanSAT spacecraft
• Retrieving atmosphere column-averaged CO₂ dry air mole fraction (XCO₂) and performing data validation by means of ground-based CO₂ monitoring