The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
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As its name suggests, the Arctic Weather Satellite mission is expected to improve weather forecasts in the Arctic – a region that currently lacks data for accurate short-term forecasts. Embracing the concept of New Space, the satellite was developed and built on a very tight schedule of just 36 months and on a tight budget. It is the forerunner of a potential constellation of satellites, called EPS-Sterna, that ESA would build for Eumetsat if the prototype Arctic Weather Satellite works well.
The Arctic Weather Satellite is equipped with a 19-channel cross-track scanning microwave radiometer, which benefits from the heritage technology of the Microwave Sounder developed for the MetOp Second Generation satellites. The instrument provides high-resolution humidity and temperature soundings of the atmosphere in all weather conditions.