Biomass

Biomass is an Earth observing satellite planned for launch by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2024 on a Vega launch vehicle. The mission will provide the first comprehensive measurements of global forest biomass. The mission is meant to last for five years, monitoring at least eight growth cycles in the worlds’ forests. Background First announced in May 2013, when it was selected as ESA's seventh Earth Explorer, the Biomass satellite is part of ESA's Living Planet Programme, which consists of Earth observation missions. Its initial launch date was set to 2020, but that has since been delayed to 2024. The entire cost of the mission was placed at around 400 million euros. The main scientific instrument aboard Biomass will be a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) operating at 435 MHz. The satellite will measure 10 x 12 x 20m, weight around 1.2 tonnes and it is set to orbit the Earth at an altitude of 600 km. The Biomass mission is planned to continue its observation of Earth for five years after launch, during which it will provide detailed information about at least eight growth cycles in the world's forests.