MicroCarb isUnderstanding the firstbehaviour Europeanand missiondynamics intendedof to characterise greenhouse gasgases fluxesin onthe Earth’s surfaceatmosphere, and gaugethe howprocesses much carbon is being absorbed by oceanswhich andthey forests,are theproduced main sinks on the planet.  

A joint mission between the French space agency CNES and theabsorbed, UKis Spacea Agency, MicroCarb launchedkey intopart orbitof inunderstanding Julyour 2025.  changing climate. 

InMicroCarb Septemberis 2025, the mission released its first images,European withmission workintended ongoingto oncharacterise finegreenhouse calibrationgas andfluxes tuningon ofEarth’s datasurface processing algorithms. 

Climate monitoring from space 

Understanding the behaviour and dynamicsgauge ofhow greenhousemuch gasescarbon inis thebeing Earth’sabsorbed atmosphere, and the processes by whichoceans they are produced and absorbed,forests, isthe amain keysinks parton ofthe understanding our changing climate.  planet. 

Adding to the work of previous COof previous CO₂ missions, MicroCarb will missions, Microcarb will become part of an international greenhouse gas monitoring network of satellites,of and collectsatellites, and collect more precise data on CO₂ emissions emissions than ever before. This will improve our understanding and monitoring ability of the natural carbon cycle and emissions from human activity.  

MicroCarb will also monitor international progress towards meeting the the Paris Agreement to to limit global surface warming,surface and allowwarming, and allow us to determine howto determine how much carbon is being absorbed by natural processes and how much is being emitted by human activity.  activity. 

MicroCarb’s city-scan observing capabilityMicrocarb’s city-scan observing capability will map atmospheric CO₂ over cities, providing insights for cities to incorporate sustainability into their urban planning.  planning. 

Monitoring greenhouse gas data will allow us to anticipate howto anticipate how ecosystems, habitats and societies will react to climate change,climate and providechange, and provide insights on how to mitigate and minimise damage.  damage. 

On 2 February 2024, it was announced that Microcarb was ready for launch. The completed satellite was delivered by Thales Alenia Space UK (TAS UK) to the French Space Agency, CNES, where it awaits shipment for launch.

Launch is expected no earlier than 2025. 

Instrumentation and measurement  measurement 

MicroCarb orbits atOnce launched, Microcarb will orbit at an altitude of 650km,of and will650km, and will repeat its cycle of observation and measurements every 21 days.  days. 

It carries anIt will carry an infrared spectrometer, which will measure O₂ and and CO₂ concentrations concentrations at 4 different spectral bands in sunlight reflected off the Earth: 0.76μm, 1.27μm, 1.6μm and 2μm. 

Part of MicroCarb’s work will involve observing photosynthetic activity. 

The infrared spectrometer’s degree of precision will be extremely high. Measurements of CO2 concentrationsCO₂ concentrations will be in the order of 1ppm (part per million), with a pixel size of 4.5x9km. The city-scanning observing modecity-scanning observing mode will have a resolution of 2x2km2.  2x2km². 

MicroCarb willMicroCarb will also retrieve Solar Induced Fluorescence (SIF),(SIF), which will provide data about photosynthetic activity and enrich data from CO₂ observations observations about carbon sinks.  sinks. 

How is the UK involved?  involved? 

The UK Spacehas Agency has investeda £15 millionrange in MicroCarb,of allowingroles UKfrom industryassembling and scientiststesting the satellite, ground segment algorithms to playleading UK scientists on the Mission Advisory Group. 

The UK is involved with the Assembly, Integration and Testing of satellite, design and build of key rolesparts, data collection, algorithm development and scientific mission preparation. 

The UK Space Agency invested £13.9 million in the mission.  mission, securing the following UK expertise: 

TheseThe include: National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has provided the SI-traceable ground calibration facility, to test its performance pre-launch. Paul Green of NPL has developed algorithms and quality metrics with the MicroCarb team.

• Thales Alenia Space UK (TAS(TAS UK)UK) completed the assembly, integration andis completing the assembly, integration and testing at STFC RAL Spaceat STFC RAL Space in Harwell, Oxfordshire Oxfordshire. 

• STFC RAL Space,STFC alsoRAL inSpace Harwell, designedhas designed the pointing and calibration system, enabling MicroCarb toenabling MicroCarb to take measurements at specific locations  locations. 

• The NationalGMV Physical Laboratory (NPL)UK has providedare thedesigning, SI-traceableimplementing groundand calibrationquality facility,assuring toalgorithms test its performance pre-launch, and is developing algorithmsoperational andprocessors qualityfor metrics forseveral theCO₂ mission data products. 

• Professor Paul Palmer of the of the National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO)(NCEO) and the  and the University of Edinburgh will translate MicroCarb’s COwill translate MicroCarb’s CO₂ observations observations into maps that show carbon absorption and emissions emissions. 

• Dr Rob Parker is is part of the NCEO teamthe NCEO team delivering the mission’s Solar Induced Fluorescence retrieval algorithm, based on expertise fromon the expertise from the University of Leicester .

• GMV UK are designing, implementing and quality assuring algorithms and operational processors for several CO₂ data products