ESA Builds One Satellite After Another

December 2009 National Scene Magazine Space Article

What’s the Rush to Build More Satellites? (archived Dec. 2009)

Just Weeks After the European Space Agency Launched its Two Newest Satellites to Study the Global Climate and Environment, Agency Already Building More


Written by: Karen Benardello



Two European Space Agency (ESA) satellites, including the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission and the Proba-2, were launched on November 1 from Plesetsk in northern Russia, in an effort to study the global climate and environment.

The SMOS, which is the second satellite in the Earth Explorer series, will focus mainly on monitoring climate change. The satellite is unique in the fact that it features an interferometric radiometer that will study the water cycle between oceans, land and the atmosphere. It’s also the first satellite to map sea surface salinity and to monitor soil moisture.

Proba-2 is following up on the successful 2001 launch of the Proba-1. Both are demonstration satellites under ESA’s Project for Onboard Autonomy. Proba-2 is specifically focusing on 17 advanced satellite technologies, such as a highly sophisticated CCD camera. The satellite is also carrying a set of four science instruments to observe the Sun and study the plasma environment in orbit.

The satellites both started their sun-synchronous orbits by circling the Earth, with the SMOS reaching 760 km, and the Proba-2 reaching 725 km. While the Proba-2 won’t be fully functional until January, and the SMOS is hoping for a May start date, Jean-Jacques Dordain, the ESA’s Director General, said as he watched the launch; “We are extremely pleased with this double ‘lucky strike’ that will provide Europe with new tools to better understand our planet and climate change, as well as new technology breakthroughs that will enhance the competitiveness of European industry on the world-wide market, thus contributing to the global economy.”

Hopefully, both the SMOS and the Proba-2 will be as successful as the ESA plans, since the agency is putting so much faith that they will collect environmental data. For instance, Volker Liebig, the ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programs, said that the SMOS, for example, will “complement measurements already performed on the ground and at sea to monitor water exchanges on a global scale. Since these exchanges – most of which occur in remote areas – directly affect the weather, they are of paramount importance to meteorologists.” This comment makes it seem as though the world’s water supply is depending on the satellite’s success.

Just because the first Proba and the first satellite in the Earth Explorer series were successful doesn’t mean these two will go as well. While monitoring the climate change and water supply is important, and building satellites surely take time, the ESA shouldn’t be rushing to build more, as these two current satellites aren’t even fully operational yet.

But instead of focusing time and money on other pressing matters, including war, disease and other natural disasters, three more Earth Explorers and two more Proba missions are already being designed and developed. Space exploration is important, but there are more pressing matters that need to be taken care of before more satellites are developed.