# Biomass (satellite)

Biomass is an Earth observing satellite planned for launch by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2025 from Kourou, French Guiana on a Vega C launch vehicle. The mission will provide the first comprehensive measurements of global forest biomass. It is meant to last for five years, monitoring at least eight growth cycles in the world’s forests.

## Background

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 2025.
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, weigh around 1.2 tonnes and it is set to orbit the Earth at an altitude of 666 km.
All devices for assembly of the satellite structure, including vertical transport equipment, assembly and disassembly of satellite panels, assembly and disassembly of the Synthetic Aperture Radar are done by the Spanish company SENER.

## Timeline

* In May 2013, Biomass was announced as ESA's 7th Earth Explorer.
* In February 2015, ESA Member States gave the green light for the project’s full implementation.
* In May 2016, it was announced that Airbus Defence and Space UK will build the satellite under a contract valued at 229 million euros.
* In October 2019, ESA and Arianespace signed a contract for the launch of Biomass on a Vega launch vehicle from French Guiana. At that time, tha launch was planned for 2022.
* During 2022, the satellite was assembled at Airbus in Stevenage, UK.
* In November 2022, the satellite was transported from the UK to Airbus’ Astrolabe facilities in Toulouse, France for testing.
* In February 2025, the satellite was pronounced ready for packing and shipping from Toulouse to French Guiana for a launch planned for April 2025 and on 21 February, it has left Toulouse for the port of Sète.
* In March 2025, after almost two weeks at sea aboard the cargo ship MN Toucan, the satellite arrived at Pariacabo – the harbour of the Guiana Space Centre – and was transported to the spaceport's cleanroom.

## Instruments

Biomass is equipped with a P-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which is built in Friedrichshafen, Germany and a large 12-m deployable antenna supplied by L3Harris. The Feed Array of the SAR antenna is provided by Thales Alenia Space Italy.

## Scientific objectives

The main objective of the mission is to measure forest biomass in order to assess terrestrial carbon stocks and fluxes and better understand the planet's carbon cycle. The Biomass mission will explore Earth's surface at the P-band wavelength, the first time this technique is used from orbit. This will allow it to provide accurate maps of tropical, temperate and boreal forest biomass that are not obtainable by ground measurement techniques. The amount of biomass and forest height will be measured at a resolution of 200 m, and forest disturbances such as clear-cutting at a resolution of 50 m.
Its stated objectives are:
* Reduce the large uncertainties in the carbon flux due to changes in land use
* Provide scientific support for international treaties, agreements and programs such as the UN’s REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) program
* Improve understanding and predictions of landscape-scale carbon dynamics
* Provide observations to initialize and test the land element of Earth system models
* Provide key information for forest resources management and ecosystem services.
It is expected that the data sent back from the satellite will also contribute new information to other areas of climate science, like measuring the biomass of desert regions to find fossil water and new water sources in arid regions as well as contributing to observations of ice sheet dynamics, subsurface geology and forest topography.