During the 28 January meeting the ESA approved an Authorization to Proceed of €70 million to allow the selected prime contractor to begin Phase B2 (advanced preliminary design and system definition) for Aeolus-2.

The Aeolus-2 mission is being developed under Eumetsat’s European Polar System program in partnership with the ESA to provide high-resolution wind measurements for weather forecasting.

A Doppler lidar uses the Doppler effect on scattered laser light to measure the velocity and direction of moving particles or the relative velocity of objects.

The ESA is preparing to close an initial award of €70 million to begin the next development phase of Aeolus-2.

The name Aeolus-2 derives from Aeolus, the Greek god of the wind.

Project Bromo is a planned merger combining the space businesses of Airbus, Thales, and Leonardo.

Aeolus-2 is the planned operational successor to the original Aeolus mission.

The two Aeolus-2 satellites are expected to provide more than ten years of continuous operations together.

Each Aeolus-2 satellite platform will be designed for a life of between 5.5 and 7 years.

Aeolus’s Doppler lidar was the first spaceborne instrument capable of measuring global wind profiles from the lower atmosphere up to about 40 kilometers in altitude.

The ESA Industrial Policy Committee met in Paris on 28 January and approved the next development phase for Aeolus-2.

The European Space Agency (ESA) approved the selection of the prime contractor for the Aeolus-2 meteorological satellite.

The original Aeolus mission was built by Airbus Defence and Space and was deorbited in early 2023.

The first Aeolus-2 satellite, with a mass of 2.5 tonnes, is scheduled for launch in 2034.

Eumetsat plans Aeolus-2 to consist of two satellites launched sequentially, each carrying a Doppler lidar.

The ESA could require assurances that Aeolus-2 development will not be hindered by reorganization following the planned merger of aerospace businesses.

Planned CTA++ developments include research on silicon sensors with potential technology transfer to biomedical sectors and advanced environmental and atmospheric monitoring.

ASTRASud aims to upgrade INAF radiotelescopes and telescopes located in southern Italy to support space surveillance and multimessenger astronomy research.

CTAO is the largest and most powerful gamma-ray observatory in the world currently under construction.

ASTRASud plans to upgrade receivers at the Sardinia Radio Telescope in Sardinia and the Noto radiotelescope in Sicily for high- and low-frequency observations.

The STILEMI program is funded with €18,729,994.22 and is entirely financed by INAF.

INAF is funding three projects under the program: CTA++, STILEMI, and ASTRASud.

The Italian Ministry of University and Research assigned €55.22 million to the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF) under the Programma Nazionale Ricerca, Innovazione e Competitività 2021–2027.

ASTRASud plans to develop new optical telescopes for space weather and solar studies and to design, build, and test wide-field sky-observation telescopes.

Planned CTA++ developments include techniques for studying and monitoring active volcanoes and methodologies complementary to traditional space surveillance.

CTA++ aims to expand applications of particle astrophysics using experience from the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO).

ASTRASud plans to develop powerful computing systems and data-processing algorithms for acquired observational data.

The total allocation to research bodies and Italian universities under the same program exceeded €274 million.

STILEMI plans to build a Lunar Environment Simulation Chamber to replicate and control hostile lunar conditions and test degradation of space instruments.

STILEMI aims to create a technological excellence ecosystem to support INAF’s scientific mission and drive innovation for the aerospace and micro/nano-technology sectors.

The ASTRASud proposal is funded with €17,512,992.78 and is entirely financed by INAF.

INAF received nearly €5 million in an additional performance-based fund on top of the €55.22 million allocation.

STILEMI plans to build a high-energy ion accelerator for materials science in extreme environments and a facility for characterization and fabrication of integrated materials and devices at the nanometer scale.

STILEMI includes planned facilities for advanced radio-frequency testing, advanced adaptive optics, and development and testing of optical components for wide-field optical telescopes.

The CTA++ project is funded with €18,777,000 and includes partners Università degli Studi di Palermo, Politecnico di Bari, Università degli Studi di Bari, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, and Università degli Studi di Siena.

INAF will use the funds to finance projects for strengthening research activities, developing innovative technologies, and building new astrophysics laboratories.

The DLR facility for space propulsion in Lampoldshausen played a major role in the development and qualification of the Ariane 6 propulsion systems.

The Ariane 6 version with four boosters is designated Ariane 64.

ArianeGroup Germany will assemble the Vinci engine in Lampoldshausen in the future.

The Ariane 6 with four solid rocket boosters is scheduled to make its first launch from Kourou, French Guiana on 12 February 2026 at 17:45 CET (13:45 local time).

The Ariane 6 upper stage is designed to completely burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere after mission completion to avoid leaving debris.

The Ariane 6 in the four-booster configuration can deliver about 20 tonnes of payload to orbit.

The 12 February 2026 Ariane 6 flight from Kourou will carry 32 Amazon satellites to a low Earth orbit at an altitude of 465 kilometers.

Engine installation into the Ariane 6 upper stage will continue to take place in Bremen.

The Ariane 6 upper stage is developed and manufactured by ArianeGroup in Bremen as ESA’s prime contractor.

German contributions to the Ariane 6 program are coordinated by the German Space Agency (Deutsche Raumfahrtagentur) at the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

ArianeGroup is shifting full end production, system integration, and flight acceptance testing from Vernon, France to Germany.

Germany is the second-largest financial contributor to the Ariane 6 program after France within the European Space Agency (ESA).

DLR Lampoldshausen conducted tests of the Vinci upper-stage engine and the complete Ariane 6 upper stage with integrated avionics, including vacuum altitude-simulation testing.

Ariane 6 is a key element for Europe’s independent access to space.