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ЦитироватьBIOMASS
Launch Time
NET April, 2025
Rocket  Vega C
Arianespace
...
Mission Details
BIOMASS
ESA's Earth Observation Programme Board has selected Biomass in May 2013 to become the seventh Earth Explorer mission. The innovative satellite aims to map and monitor one of Earth's most precious resources.
The satellite will be designed to provide, for the first time from space, P-band radar measurements that are optimised to determine the amount of biomass and carbon stored in the world's forests with greater accuracy than ever before.
This information, which is poorly known in the tropics, is essential to our understanding of the role of forests in Earth's carbon cycle and in climate change.
Reliable knowledge of tropical forest biomass also underpins the implementation of the UN Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) initiative – an international effort to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and land degradation in developing countries.
In addition, the measurements made by Biomass offer the opportunity to map the elevation of Earth's terrain under dense vegetation, yielding information on subsurface geology and allowing the estimation of glacier and ice-sheet velocities, critical to our understanding of ice-sheet mass loss in a warming Earth.
Payloads: 1    Total Mass: 1,170.0 kg    Sun-Synchronous Orbit

Location
ELV, Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana, France

ЦитироватьAirbus Space  @AirbusSpace
See you soon, Biomass!
Today, Biomass took the road to Sète 🇫🇷 to reach its new home for the next few weeks: the Toucan boat.
Its journey will end in Kourou, French Guiana, for a launch scheduled this spring.
It will then be ready to start its mission to measure the world's forests and their ability to capture carbon and how that affects climate change.
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/378691.jpg)  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/378692.jpg)

Цитата: Разъём от 06.12.2023 17:02:07Дело о пропавших топливных баках Vega AVUM
By Andrew Parsonson -December 4, 2023, European spaceflight

Два из четырех баков, необходимых для работы четвертой ступени последней ракеты Vega, исчезли несколько месяцев назад, и компания Avio была вынуждена искать альтернативное решение.
Четвертая ступень Vega AVUM имеет высоту 1,74 метра при диаметре 1,9 метра. Ступень оснащена украинским жидкостным двигателем РД-869 УДМХ/НТО. Топливо для двигателя хранится в четырех сферических баках.
В начале октября источник в компании European Spaceflight сообщил, что два из четырех баков под топливо для последнего полета Vega пропали. На прошлой неделе второй источник независимо подтвердил эту информацию.
По состоянию на конец 2022 года последним полетом Vega должен был стать спутник Европейского космического агентства для оценки состояния лесов Biomass, контракт на запуск которого был подписан в октябре 2019 года. Однако в начале 2023 года агентство пришло к выводу, что запуск миссии наблюдения Земли Sentinel 2C является более срочным. Решение о замене "Биомассы" на Sentinel 2C было официально принято летом. Контракт на создание Sentinel 2C и 2D был заключен с компанией Airbus Defence and Space в январе 2016 года. Стоимость контракта составила более 280 миллионов евро.
Два пропавших топливных бака находились в производственном цехе Avio в Коллеферро, где проводились ремонтные работы. В какой-то момент после завершения ремонтных работ обнаружилось, что оба бака пропали.
По словам первоисточника, баки не были внесены в общекорпоративную систему управления активами, которая отслеживала местонахождение всех жизненно важных компонентов Avio. Это привело к тому, что группам, которым было поручено расследовать пропажу, было практически не на что ориентироваться, когда они начали поиски пропавших баков.
Несмотря на тщетность поисков, баки в конце концов были найдены. Однако это была не та хорошая новость, на которую надеялся Авио. Баки, к сожалению, оказались непригодны для использования. Они были смяты и найдены вместе с металлическими обломками на свалке.
На данный момент у Avio нет возможности приобрести новые баки для миссии, поскольку все производственные линии Vega были остановлены. В связи с этим Avio рассматривает два варианта действий, пытаясь спасти запуск.
Первое потенциальное решение - использование четырех баков, которые использовались на этапе квалификации аппарата перед его первым полетом в 2012 году. Компания надеется использовать два бака для проведения повторных квалификационных испытаний, а два других оставить для самого полета. Однако это решение не лишено сложностей. Эти баки пролежали без дела более десяти лет, и гарантировать целостность нескольких элементов, проверить которые будет невероятно сложно, практически невозможно. Хотя этот вариант все еще рассматривается, существует и альтернативный сценарий.
В качестве последней попытки спасти последнюю миссию Vega компания Avio рассматривает вариант использования модифицированной верхней ступени AVUM. Это "франкенштейновское" решение, в котором будут использованы элементы ступени Vega C AVUM+, будет совершенно непроверенным. Поэтому доверять критически важную полезную нагрузку в рамках, по сути, испытательного полета - задача не из легких.
Независимо от того, какое решение примет Avio, компания вряд ли сможет выполнить свое обязательство по финальному запуску Vega в первой половине 2024 года.
European Spaceflight обратился к ESA, Avio и Arianespace с просьбой прокомментировать эту историю, но все они отказались.

Спойлер

The Case of the Missing Vega AVUM Propellant Tanks
By Andrew Parsonson -December 4, 2023
Two of the four tanks necessary to power the fourth stage of the final Vega flight disappeared several months ago, leaving Avio scrambling to find an alternate solution.
The Vega AVUM fourth stage stands at 1.74 meters tall with a diameter of 1.9 meters. The stage is equipped with the Ukrainian RD-869 UDMH/NTO liquid-fueled engine. The propellant for the engine is stored across four spherical tanks.
A source talking to European Spaceflight revealed in early October that two of the four propellant tanks for the final Vega flight had gone missing. Last week, a second source independently verified the story.
As of late 2022, the final flight of Vega was to have been the European Space Agency's Biomass forest measuring satellite, the launch contract of which had been signed in October 2019. However, in early 2023, the agency began to consider that the launch of its Sentinel 2C Earth observation mission was more urgent. The decision to swap out Biomass for Sentinel 2C was officially made during the summer. The contract to build Sentinel 2C and 2D was awarded to Airbus Defence and Space in January 2016. The contract was worth more than €280 million.
The two propellant tanks that went missing were housed in an Avio production department in Colleferro that had undergone renovation work. At some point following the completion of the renovations, the two tanks were found to be missing.
According to the initial source, the tanks had not been entered into a company-wide asset management system that tracked the location of all vital Avio components. This ensured that the teams tasked with investigating the disappearance had very little to go on when beginning their search for the missing tanks.
Despite the futility of the search, the tanks were eventually found. This was, however, not the good news Avio had hoped for. The tanks are, unfortunately, not in a usable state. They had been crushed and were found alongside metal scraps in a landfill.
At the moment, Avio does not have any way of acquiring new tanks for the mission, with all Vega production lines having been shut down. Avio is, as a result, exploring two options in an attempt to salvage the mission.
The first potential solution is using the four tanks that were used during the vehicle's qualification phase before its maiden flight in 2012. The company hoped to utilize two of the tanks to perform re-qualification tests, leaving the other two for the flight itself. However, this solution is not without its challenges. These tanks have been sitting around for over a decade, and the integrity of several elements that would be incredibly difficult to inspect would be next to impossible to guarantee. While this route is still being considered, there is also an alternate plan in the works.
As a last-ditch effort to save the final Vega mission, Avio is now looking at modifying the AVUM upper stage for use aboard Vega. This Frankenstein solution, which would use elements of a Vega C AVUM+ stage, would be completely unproven. This makes trusting a critical payload with what is essentially a test flight a challenging ask.
Regardless of which solution Avio goes with, the company is unlikely to be able to fulfill its commitment to launch the final Vega flight in the first half of 2024.
European Spaceflight asked ESA, Avio, and Arianespace if they would like to comment on this story, but all declined.

[свернуть]

ЦитироватьArianespace  @Arianespace
Biomass, our next passenger on board Vega C has arrived @EuropeSpacePort! #VV26
Biomass is @esa's flagship Earth explorer mission to measure #forest biomass & assess terrestrial carbon stocks & fluxes.
Launch date details will be shared in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/379582.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/379583.jpg)

Цитата: Salo от 25.03.2025 22:00:19https://newsroom.arianespace.com/arianespace-to-launch-esas-biomass-satellite-on-april-29-2025-with-vega-c?lang=eng

ЦитироватьArianespace to launch ESA's Biomass satellite on April 29, 2025, with Vega C
25.03.2025
    On April 29, 2025, Arianespace will launch Biomass, the European Space Agency's Earth Explorer satellite with a Vega C rocket.
    The Biomass mission is designed to deliver crucial information about the state of our forests and how they are changing, and to further our knowledge of the role forests play in the Earth's carbon cycle.
    As the launch service provider, Arianespace contributes to Europe's autonomous access to space, enabling ESA to carry out a critical mission in environmental monitoring and climate research.
On Tuesday April 29th, 2025, at 6:15 a.m. local time (09:15 a.m. UTC, 11:15 a.m. CEST), Arianespace is to launch the European Space Agency's (ESA) Earth Explorer Biomass satellite from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. The mission called "VV26", will place its passenger on board a Vega C launcher, into Sun-Synchronous Orbit at an altitude of around 666 km. Spacecraft separation will occur 57 minutes after lift-off.
ESA's Earth Explorers satellites are recognised as being among the world's leading research missions, delivering groundbreaking scientific insights about Earth's complex systems. Forests, the 'Earth's green lungs', absorb around 8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year. Deforestation and degradation, particularly in tropical regions, are causing carbon stored in forests to be released back into the atmosphere. Quantifying the global carbon cycle is essential to understanding the subsequent implications for our climate.
The Biomass satellite carries the first P-band synthetic aperture radar to observe Earth from space. Thanks to its long wavelength, around 70 cm, the radar signal can penetrate all the way through the forest canopy. This allows it to collect information on the height and structure of different forest types and measure the amount of carbon stored in the world's forests and how it changes over time. In addition, the Biomass mission will map subsurface geology in deserts, the ice structure of ice sheets and the topography of forest floors.
Biomass, manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space, will spend at least five years making detailed observations and witnessing at least eight growth cycles in the world's forests. Observations from this new mission will also lead to better insight into the rates of habitat loss and, as a result, the effect this may have on biodiversity in the forest environment.
The VV26 launch at a glance:
    353rd launch by Arianespace, 4th Vega C launch
    10% of the satellites launched by Arianespace are Earth observation satellites
    52nd mission for the European Space Agency
    146th spacecraft built by Airbus Defence and Space launched by Arianespace

ЦитироватьAirbus Space  @AirbusSpace
The forest monitoring satellite #BIOMASS is set for launch on 29 April 2025 from the European Space Port in Kourou, French Guiana by @Arianespace.
Built by Airbus for  @esa, the satellite's mission is to help scientists to assess terrestrial carbon stocks and fluxes by delivering exceptionally accurate maps of tropical, temperate and boreal forest biomass. #ICYMI
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/380286.jpg)

ЦитироватьArianespace  @Arianespace
The #VV26 launch campaign is in full swing @EuropeSpacePort
 
The satellite encapsulation has taken place: the half-shells of the launcher's fairing were gently closed around @ESA_EO @esa Biomass satellite!
Liftoff April 29 at 6:15 a.m. local time (09:15 a.m. UTC). Stay tuned!
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/381087.jpg)  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/381088.jpg)
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/381089.jpg)  (https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/381090.jpg)

ЦитироватьArianespace  @Arianespace
 Ahead of launch #VV26 next week, discover in a nutshell the main elements to know about the flight and mission.
English, French & Italian versions of the Launch Kit are available here: https://newsroom.arianespace.com/vega-c-flight-vv26
 April 29 at 06:15 am Kourou, 09:15 am UTC, 11:15 am CEST
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/381246.jpg)

ЦитироватьEuropean Space Agency  @esa
Watch live: the launch of @ESA_EO's Biomass mission on Vega-C #VV26, liftoff scheduled for 29 April, 10.15 BST/11.15 CEST. #ESAwebTV coverage starts 09.55 BST/10.55 CEST.
More details
https://esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Biomass/Watch_Biomass_launch_live
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/381340.jpg)

ЦитироватьWatch Biomass launch live
24/04/2025
...
ESA's Biomass mission is on the launch pad at Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. Don't miss the live coverage of liftoff on Tuesday 29 April, on ESA WebTV (https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/ESA_Web_TV). Coverage will start at 10:55 CEST with commentary live from Kourou and ESA's European Space Operations Centre in Germany. The Vega-C rocket carrying Biomass is scheduled for liftoff at 11:15.

About Biomass
Biomass is one of ESA's Earth Explorer missions and, like other Earth Explorers, it uses advanced space technology to provide new data. Biomass will advance our understanding of forests and their importance in the carbon cycle and climate.
We already know that forests play a vital role in Earth's carbon cycle by absorbing and storing large amounts of carbon dioxide. This helps to regulate the planet's temperature. Data from Biomass will help us produce more accurate estimates of how much carbon is contained in forests' organic matter, or biomass, and reduce uncertainties in carbon stock and flux estimates, including those related to land-use change, forest loss, and regrowth.
Its P-band radar – the first of its kind used in space – penetrates clouds and forest layers, scattering signals off forest vegetation. These signals reveal details such as forest biomass and height. The Biomass mission's data will improve knowledge of the state of Earth's forests and how they are changing. It also enables the mapping of subsurface geology in deserts, ice sheet structures and forest floor topography.
The satellite was developed by over 50 companies led by Airbus UK.

Follow the launch live on 29 April
Watch the Biomass launch live on ESA WebTV (https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/ESA_Web_TV) and on Arianespace's YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/live/EEhmFO_Y_WE).

Programme  (All times in CEST)

• 11:15 Biomass launches on Vega-C
• 12:13 Separation and placement of Biomass in orbit
• 12:27 Acquisition of signal
• 12:38 End of launch broadcast
• 13:15 Press conference
• 14:00 Broadcast ends

Follow us on social
Follow ESA Earth observation on social media for more updates and live coverage of the Biomass launch using the #Biomass hashtag.
X: @esa (https://x.com/esa) @ESA_Earth Observation (https://x.com/ESA_EO) @ESA_Operations (https://x.com/esaoperations)
Instagram: @europeanspaceagency (https://www.instagram.com/europeanspaceagency/) @ESA_Earth (https://www.instagram.com/esa_earth/)
Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanSpaceAgency/)
YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/ESA)
LinkedIn  (https://www.linkedin.com/company/european-space-agency/)
Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/europeanspaceagency/)
More information on the Biomass mission: www.esa.int/biomass (https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Biomass)

Цитироватьhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEhmFO_Y_WE
Volo VV26 | Biomass | Vega C I Arianespace
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/373068.jpg) (https://www.youtube.com/@arianespace)  arianespace (https://www.youtube.com/@arianespace)
On Tuesday April 29th, 2025, at 6:15 a.m. local time (09:15 a.m. UTC, 11:15 a.m. CEST), Arianespace is to launch the European Space Agency's (ESA) Earth Explorer Biomass satellite from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. The mission called "VV26", will place its passenger on board a Vega C launcher, into Sun-Synchronous Orbit at an altitude of around 666 km. Spacecraft separation will occur 57 minutes after lift-off.

Спойлер

ESA's Earth Explorers satellites are recognised as being among the world's leading research missions, delivering groundbreaking scientific insights about Earth's complex systems. Forests, the 'Earth's green lungs', absorb around 8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year. Deforestation and degradation, particularly in tropical regions, are causing carbon stored in forests to be released back into the atmosphere. Quantifying the global carbon cycle is essential to understanding the subsequent implications for our climate.

The Biomass satellite carries the first P-band synthetic aperture radar to observe Earth from space. Thanks to its long wavelength, around 70 cm, the radar signal can penetrate all the way through the forest canopy. This allows it to collect information on the height and structure of different forest types and measure the amount of carbon stored in the world's forests and how it changes over time. In addition, the Biomass mission will map subsurface geology in deserts, the ice structure of ice sheets and the topography of forest floors.

Biomass, manufactured by Airbus Defence and Space, will spend at least five years making detailed observations and witnessing at least eight growth cycles in the world's forests. Observations from this new mission will also lead to better insight into the rates of habitat loss and, as a result, the effect this may have on biodiversity in the forest environment.

[свернуть]

ЦитироватьArianespace  @Arianespace
#VV26 Lift-off photo
From @EuropeSpacePort this morning 6:15 am (09:15 am UTC).
With the Biomass satellite for @ESA_EO @esa, on board a Vega C rocket.
On its way towards the Sun-Synchronous Orbit at an altitude of 666km.
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/381423.jpg)

ЦитироватьSch0ening  @sch0ening
LAUNCH ALERT
@ArianeGroup is set to launch @esa 's BIOMASS satellite from French Guiana, France. NET: 0915 UTC
Full Details on the graphic below, and the full map can be viewed at: https://tinyurl.com/esalha
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/381424.jpg)

ЦитироватьAnd Vega-C's fairing just opened to reveal Biomass!
The AVUM+ stage is still connected and working to make sure it will place 
@ESA_EO (https://x.com/ESA_EO)'s mission in its precise orbit

ЦитироватьArianespace@Arianespace

#VV26 Successful separation of Biomass satellite! 

#Arianespace operated Vega C rocket has successfully placed its passenger, the @esa @ESA_EO Biomass satellite, into Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of around 666km.

ЦитироватьESA Operations  @esaoperations
Biomass is GO for launch!

Спойлер

The Biomass Flight Operations Director José Morales has just made the  GO/NOGO roll call. All the lights are green. We are ready to launch! 
L-30 minutes

[свернуть]

https://soundcloud.com/esa/biomassrollcall
(https://img.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/381428.jpg)

Цитата: Олег от 01.05.2025 16:29:07Тут некстати НОРАД замолчал. ТЛЕ после утра 29.04 не выдаёт. Не только на Венеру-Космос-482, а вообще на любые ИСЗ.
Хоть в ЛСР жалуйся ..

ЦитироватьJonathan McDowell  @planet4589
OK, TLEs for Biomass now out (actually catalog 63772 not 63774 as I had expected) showing it in 662 x 668 km x 98.1 deg, 1800 LTDN sun sync orbit.

Цитировать2025-090A    63772    BIOMASS    98.09    98.07    668    666    0.0001472

ЦитироватьThe radar uses a 12-meter deployable antenna, provided by L3Harris. The deployment of the radar will start a couple days after launch and take four days, he said at a post-launch press conference.

ЦитироватьFollowing liftoff, orbital injection acquisition of its first signal and satellite in-orbit checks, the successful deployment of Biomass' mesh antenna reflector marks the final key step in the launch and early operations phase.