The Preliminary Concept Review (PCR) of the Carbonsat mission was conducted early this year in the European Space Agency’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC).

The Carbonsat mission is part of the ESA’s Earth Explorer missions; its remit is to increase our understanding of the atmosphere, the biosphere, etc. and of land process in general and the impact of human activities on them. Carbonsat aims in particular to monitor the distribution of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), providing flux modeling data, quantifying natural and human sources of both gases and determining more precisely the biogenic sinks (marine and land) of CO2 and the atmospheric destruction of CH4.

The completion of the PCR spells the end of a productive phase in which all mission requirements have been analyzed, all possible scenarios have been described, the various system options have been identified and the different elements have been studied and compared for their selection. Within this same phase a cost- and concept-study has also been carried out of the mission’s whole ground segment as well as a definition of mission products.

The objective of this project is to study the mission’s feasibility, design it along broad lines and then define system requirements to meet described needs.
GMV is playing a key part in this project. It is responsible for the whole of mission analysis, ranging from definition of the satellite’s orbit to its maneuvering strategy, from its launch right through to the deorbiting procedure at the end of its useful life.

GMV has also taken charge of mission scenario analysis, defining observation priorities according to requirements. It is also designing and implementing the observation system simulator, which will enable users to evaluate observation performance in very different circumstances and under varying parameters.

Lastly, GMV is responsible for the ground segment set, both of the flight dynamics part and ground data processing, as well as definition of mission operations.