CO3D & MicroCarb

MicroCarb is a small satellite designed to map sources and sinks of carbon dioxide (CO2)—the most important greenhouse gas — on a global scale. MicroCarb's dispersive spectrometer instrument will be able to measure atmospheric concentration of CO2 globally with a high degree of precision (on the order of 1 ppm) and with a pixel size of 4.5 km x 9 km. The instrument will be flown on a microsatellite built around CNES’s Myriade spacecraft bus. This mission involves the French scientific community studying climatology and the carbon cycle. The mission will be funded by the Investments for the Future Programmes.

CO3D (Constellation Optique en 3D) is an Earth observation satellite constellation by the French CNES consisting initially of 4 satellites. The satellites will deliver 50 cm resolution stereo imagery across the world on a daily basis to produce a cutting-edge 3D map of the Earth’s landmass. Weighing approximately 285 kg each, the CO3D satellites will join Airbus’ fleet of optical and radar satellites, strengthening the company’s ability to meet the growing needs of very demanding applications. The satellites are based on all electric propulsion platforms derived from the OneWeb bu.