CO2M passes Preliminary Design Review

Bremen, 14.03.2022 - The CO2M mission, a key mission in the European Earth observation programme Copernicus, has successfully completed its satellite Preliminary Design Review (PDR). This milestones confirms that the preliminary design of the CO2M satellites is in line with the customers’ requirements and the mission can proceed to the C/D development phase.

The advanced state of satellite design was confirmed by the completed test campaign of the structural model and the great progress made on the satellite's functional model, with the first closed-loop tests successfully completed.

Demanding schedule

The next phase of the CO2M project will see the release of the manufacture of the hardware for the first flight, such as the structure, in order to meet the demanding project schedule. The next major milestone, the satellite Critical Design Review (CDR), is targeted for the first quarter of 2023 to confirm a fully frozen design.

"With the successful completion of the satellite PDR, just one year after the SSRR , we have shown that we can maintain the fast pace of CO2M to meet the launch date of late 2025," says CO2M Project Manager Robert Hook.

Launch in 2025

The almost two-tonne CO2M satellites are to be launched from the end of 2025 to make carbon dioxide and methane emissions more accurately measurable from space and, for the first time, trace them back to their sources in individual countries, regions and metropolitan areas. This will help to better track and implement the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.

The Copernicus programme is funded by the European Union and ESA.