Biomass

BIOMASS is the first space-based mission in the P-band and the first fully polarimetric ESA mission.

Biomass is the first satellite to carry a P-band synthetic aperture radar capable of penetrating forest canopies to measure woody biomass.

Airbus teams finalised the Biomass structure build in the second half of 2020.

Swedish Space Corporation will provide X-band data downlink connectivity for Biomass from its polar ground stations in Inuvik and Kiruna.

The BIOMASS team at DLR generated the first radar image from the ESA Earth observation satellite BIOMASS, marking it as the first focused SAR image in the P-band taken from space.

Long SAR acquisitions covering distances of up to 12,000 kilometers are being made to analyze the ionosphere during BIOMASS's ascending and descending orbits.

The Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP) of the BIOMASS satellite ended with the deployment of its twelve-meter reflector antenna.

The In-Orbit Commissioning (IOC) phase of BIOMASS began nearly two weeks earlier than planned after the LEOP.

The first radar acquisition from the BIOMASS satellite took place on May 22, 2025.

The preliminary data analysis of the first radar image from BIOMASS shows outstanding quality.

Biomass is the first satellite equipped with a P-band radar and is designed to extract biophysical data from radar signals.

Airbus selected Vega to launch the European Space Agency’s Biomass satellite in 2022 and also procured the July launch of the UAE’s Falcon Eye 1.

Airbus is building the Biomass satellite, a 1,200-kilogram carbon dioxide-monitoring spacecraft, under an ESA contract awarded in 2016.

The European Space Agency (ESA) Biomass satellite is carrying a P-band radar operating at a low frequency of 435 MHz and a long wavelength of 70 cm.