Four new candidate Scout missions
The Scout programme continues to expand – following a recent evaluation of nine proposals, four promising candidates have been selected to be studied in detail over the next nine months, after which they will be further evaluated for selection.
A milestone ESA also celebrated today at the Living Planet Symposium with the candidate’s associated industrial leads.
Part of ESA’s FutureEO programme, the Scout missions complement the Earth Explorer missions. However, this new family of missions embraces the New Space era.
Defined by rapid development and low-cost, each Scout mission must be delivered within three years from kick-off to launch and within a budget of just €35 million.
These compact satellites are conceived to deliver cutting-edge science, either by miniaturising existing technologies or by pioneering new ways of observing Earth from space.
The four new candidate Scouts are:
- A hyperspectral mission called HIBIDIS to study understorey biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Sitael in Italy is the prime contractor.
- A mission called NAIAD that focuses on coastal and inland aquatic ecosystems to sediment and nutrient flows between the land, sea and atmosphere. SSTL in the UK is the prime contractor.
- An infrared imaging mission, called SIRIUS to monitor urban heat islands and assess heat-related health risks. Thales Alenia Space in Spain is the prime contractor.
- A mission called Sova-S to investigate atmospheric gravity waves and their impact on the upper atmosphere and thermosphere. OHB in Czechia is the prime contractor.
