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MISSIONS
Explore the European Space Agency's Earth Observation satellite missions. Learn all about ESA's dedicated Earth Explorers or collaborations with other agencies through the Third Party Missions programme.
Mission - Earth Explorers
Biomass
The objective of the Biomass mission is to determine the global distribution of forest biomass.
Mission - Heritage Missions
Envisat
Envisat was ESA's successor to ERS. Envisat carried ten instruments aboard for a wide range of Earth observing fields. The mission was operational from 2002 to 2012.
Mission - Heritage Missions
ERS
The ERS programme was composed of two missions, ERS-1 and ERS-2, which together observed the Earth for 20 years, from 1991 to 2011.
Mission - Third Party Missions
NovaSAR-1
Launched on 16 September 2018, NovaSAR-1 features an S-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instrument offering a variety of modes with different resolutions and swath widths.
Mission - Third Party Missions
SAOCOM
The SAOCOM (SAtélite Argentino de Observación COn Microondas) satellite series represents Argentina's approved polarimetric L-band SAR constellation of two spacecraft. It's objective is to provide an effective Earth observation and disaster monitoring capability.
Mission - Third Party Missions
COSMO-SkyMed Series
COSMO-SkyMed (COnstellation of small Satellites for the Mediterranean basin Observation) Series aims to provide global Earth observation that can be repeated several times a day in all-weather conditions.
Mission - Third Party Missions
COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation
COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation is at the forefront of radar technology, will ensure improvements and guarantee continuity with the First Generation CSK satellites, preserving the high quality and the highest precision features, both required for the interferometric activities.
Mission - Copernicus Sentinels
Copernicus Sentinel-1
The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission comprises a constellation of two polar-orbiting satellites, operating day and night performing C-band synthetic aperture radar imaging, enabling them to acquire imagery regardless of the weather.
Mission - Third Party Missions
PAZ
The PAZ (Spanish for “peace”) satellite, operates as a constellation alongside TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X.
Mission - Third Party Missions
TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X
The TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X satellites feature a unique geometric accuracy that is unmatched by any other spaceborne sensor.
Mission - Heritage Missions
RADARSAT
The RADARSAT programme consists of a pair of remote sensing satellites from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
Mission - Third Party Missions
ICEYE
As of June 2023, 27 X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites have been launched for the ICEYE constellation. This enables all-weather Earth observation.
Mission - Heritage Missions
Seasat
On board Seasat was the first-ever space-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system for science applications.
Mission - Heritage Missions
JERS-1
The overall objectives of JERS-1 (Japanese Earth Resources Satellite) were the generation of global data sets with SAR and OPS sensors aimed at surveying resources, establishing an integrated Earth observation system
Mission - Third Party Missions
COSMO-SkyMed
COSMO-SkyMed is an Italian Earth-imaging constellation consisting of four identical satellites which launched between 2007 and 2010.
Mission - Heritage Missions
ALOS-1
The Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS-1) was a Japanese Earth-imaging satellite from JAXA.